


Hero of War

by WinTTY



Series: Greyhound [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: (yikes), Angst, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Meeting the Parents, Romance, Slice of Life, army vet chloe, hella weird kinks yo, max is clingy (like a koala), photographer max, things get dangerously adorable and awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-11-13 16:27:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11188938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinTTY/pseuds/WinTTY
Summary: Chloe returns to Portland upon earning a Purple Heart for her service.-Sequel to 'Houndin' For You'





	1. I Missed You

**-**

**A hero of war**

**Yeah, that's what I'll be**

**And when I come home**

**They'll be damn proud of me**

**-**

Chloe coughs violently, her hand immediately shooting to her side to clutch at the bandaged wound.

“F-fuck,” she breathes out, taking a moment for herself. With a sigh, she recovers and places her head against the window again.

Outside, the Portland skyline is already apparent. Skyscrapers located in the downtown are peeking above the city sprawl. Somewhere in the midst of that is Chloe’s apartment. No - Chloe _and Max’s_ apartment. _Home._

Three months into her final tour Chloe sustained an injury on patrol. An IED, a moment of confusion and a stray hail of bullets from an insurgent landed her in a field hospital in critical condition. Transferred to the nearest professional medical facility, she underwent a series of surgeries that saved her life. Earning herself a Purple Heart, she was honourably discharged from the military and sent home weeks later.

Max was, for damn good reason, on the verge of collapse after receiving the news from Chloe’s CO. Stopped at the airport not once, not twice, but _three times_ by Kate, Warren and Juliet - the brunette was devastated with the fact that her girlfriend was suffering somewhere overseas in a hospital and she _couldn’t_ be there. Her friends kept her company, ensured she was coping with everything whilst Chloe recovered. The moment Chloe was allowed, they’d shared a video call and Max was in tears before she even heard a word.

It took a while to calm her down, but she did. They talked. Chloe did at one point fall asleep due to the amount of drugs they pumped into her on the daily, but Max didn’t care - she was content with just watching her sleep, content with the knowledge that she was safe and she was going to be _alright._ When she’d finally heard from Chloe that she’d be coming home soon, Max simply couldn’t be (in her own words) “any fucking happier”.

So came today.

Chloe looks outside the window and finds the packed square approaching, the Greyhound exchange in sight - flashing monitors and the loud chatter of the hundreds of individuals going about their day. Her eyes are already hunting for that head of chestnut hair amongst the sea of colours. Chloe then realises - Max is short, she won’t see her anyway. Chloe laughs to herself at the thought, regretting it the moment her side flares up in pain.

The coach jolts to a stop, Chloe stands up the moment she hears the hiss of the brakes.

With her duffle already slid out from beneath her seat and on her shoulder, she follows the queue of passengers down the aisle between the seats.

When she steps outside, the cold December air hits her like a damn truck. Shivering, Chloe looks around for a moment and realises Max isn’t actually _here._ In fact, Chloe can see her three stops over looking around a crowd from a completely different coach.

“That’s my dork,” she whispers to herself with a chuckle.

Wanting to surprise her, Chloe sneaks her way through the crowds towards Max. With each approaching step she can see her girlfriend clearer and clearer - and just like the first day they met, her heart rate spikes up and her stomach feels light when she can see all her features clearly.

_I struck gold._

Only a few feet away now, Chloe drops her duffle down and stands directly behind Max - the brunette still completely oblivious. She smirks and with a swift movement covers her eyes, leaning into her ear as she whispers “...miss me?”

 _“Chloe!”_ Max exclaims immediately and before Chloe even knows what's happening they’re barrelling towards the ground.

“Awh, s-shit-,” Chloe groans in pain as she holds her side.

Max’s eyes are open wide in shock and fear as she scrambles off Chloe in an instant, hand on her mouth. “Oh my god! I’m so, so sorry baby-”

“Max.” Chloe laughs quietly and shakes her head. “Just… help me up.”

Extending her hand, Max pulls her girlfriend up from the ground with some effort.

They take a moment and just stand there, looking, appreciating the fact that both of them are back together.

“I missed you.” Chloe pulls her into a hug, her wound flaring up in pain again - a pain she’s willing to ignore right now. “Fuck, Max, _I missed you-”_

“I missed you too,” Max whispers as she’s squeezing back ever harder than Chloe, a force comparable to a vice. “Chloe, I was s-so _scared-”_

“I know, Max, I know.” Chloe sniffles and buries her face in the side of Max’s head, lips pressing against whatever they can find. “I was scared too, but it’s okay because everything is fine now and we’re back together.”

Max cries as she nods her head.

They stand there for minutes, embracing and crying quietly - whispering to each other with smiles on their faces. A few heads turn towards them but don’t pay too much attention, opting to simply walk around the couple. Chloe breaks them apart once they’re both calm, placing their foreheads together.

“Everything’s okay. I’m back, I’m safe - let's go home, okay?” Chloe smiles as she looks at her girlfriend. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Max nods and wipes away her tears, clasping their hands together. “Let’s go home.”

Chloe swings the duffle over her shoulder again, pulling Max close as she drapes her arm over her. Gently knocking their heads together, she smiles as she leads them home.

* * *

 

When the door swings open to their apartment, Chloe is the first one inside. A part of her wants to cry, a part wants to laugh, a part to smile and tease Max. Every possible surface within the apartment is covered in letters, pictures - correspondence between the couple over the length of Chloe’s deployment. It’s messy, but Chloe admits that it's also kinda cute, heartwarming. Max genuinely missed her.

“Sorry about the mess,” Max says as she closes the door and takes her place beside Chloe. “Ever since you’ve been in hospital, I’ve j-just started g-going over all these and… and it’s kinda… been h-helping-”

“Max,” Chloe speaks and turns her around to face her. “I’m back - it’s okay,” she reinforces and presses her lips against her forehead, giving her a squeeze. “I don’t care how messy this place is. I’m just happy that I’m back here.”

“Me too,” Max replies and buries her face in Chloe’s chest. “So, so happy.”

Chloe drops her duffle beside the couch, shuffling the two of them onto the seats. Pulling Max onto her lap, she wraps both her arms around her and holds her. Max in turn nuzzles her face against her neck, taking in a deep breath - a smile develops on her face as she recognises the smell of cigarettes and men’s deodorant (which Max thinks is gross, but also very Chloe).

“Are you smelling me?” Chloe teases with a smirk. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“Shush!” Max giggles and pushes her face against her neck. “I… forgot what you smelled like. I h-had your jacket but that k-kinda faded even after I didn’t wash it-”

“Hold up.” Chloe moves her head back and looks down at Max. “Are you telling me that you didn’t wash my jacket for months because it smelled like me?”

“Yes,” Max says and blushes, looking away.

“God, that’s so gross but also so damn cute.” Chloe laughs and pulls Max back into the embrace, letting her bury her face into her neck again. Moments later she brings up the set of dog tags from around Max’s neck, grazing her thumb over the stencil lettering. “You kept these on the entire time?”

Max blushes and nods. “I… I slept with them too.”

Chloe laughs. “Oh dude-”

“Shush!” Max blushes harder and tries to hide herself. “Shush, just… shush.”

“I don’t wanna imagine just how clingy you’re going to be now,” Chloe teases.

“Shush!” Max repeats and shakes her head. “Let’s just… sit here and hug. I don’t want to talk.”

Chloe nods and presses her cheek against the top of Max’s head, eyes absently staring forward at the window beside their TV. Outside she can see heavy flakes of snow falling already - the winter weather now in full swing in Portland. In their silence, she hears the ticking of the old clock on the wall, the occasionally shouts and cars outside, their quiet breaths in unison with one another. Max sniffles.

“Hey, are you okay? What’s up?” Chloe asks in a whisper.

Max shakes her head. “I’m o-okay. I j-just… I can’t believe you’re back. I’m so d-damn happy,” she replies as she wipes her eyes quickly.

“Me too, Max,” Chloe repeats, “me too.”

“What are you g-going to do now?” Max asks with another sniffle, taking a deep breath to calm down.

“Stay with you like I promised before I left.” Chloe smiles as she continues to stare out of the window. “I’ll look around for a job, get something going as soon as possible-”

“Can you wait for a bit?” Max moves back from her burrow and looks at her. “Please? I… I just got you back and I want to spend time with you.”

Chloe smiles and places her lips against her forehead. “Okay. I can wait. Don’t you have your own work though?”

“Juliet gave me a few days leave,” Max says and closes her eyes. “I didn’t want to get back to work the day after my girlfriend came back to me.”

“Clingy nerd.” Chloe giggles and trails a few pecks across her forehead again. “I’m glad because now you can tell me all the things that happened since I’ve left.”

Max nods and slips off Chloe’s lap, wiping her eyes for the last time. “I’ll make us some hot chocolate.”

“Oh yes!” Chloe pumps her fist into the air.

With a giggle, Max disappears into the kitchen behind them.

Chloe lets out a faint smile to herself and leans back, looking over the small living room. In her time away, exactly nothing has changed - the same pictures from before are still hung up on the wall, the TV is still in the same place, the furniture is unchanged. Perhaps the only real difference are the letters still lying about everywhere - the occasional picture of Chloe and her squadmates attached to a few.

Leaning forward, she picks up a random letter and reads it over.

-

_Dear Max,_

**_I MISS YOU SO MUCH._ ** _Actually sucks going around base nowadays because it’s either too hot or too cold depending on time of day (seriously, deserts are hella weird). I’ve been shifting my ass 8 hours a day on active patrol around the base perimeter. It ain’t glamorous, but it’s safer than normal patrols out in the wastelands beyond the province. Justin is constantly being an ass, but that’s not new anymore is it? Still salty that I’d managed to snag you up for myself, he does a good job of keeping me awake at night. Prick._

 _Thank Kate once again for her cookies! Seriously delicious (even though my tin had suspiciously less than anyone else's, any idea why?), giving them out earned me a lot of pull within the squad - even the CO was delighted since choc chip were his favourite (isn’t it everyones or am I missing something??). I_ **_loved_ ** _your small care package baby -  I think the picture with your cute lip bite whilst you wore my surplus jacket and dog tags… ugh, you melt me in all the right places, you know that? Keep being you girl because I love everything about you._

_I know you’ve had a shitty few days last week so I had to do something about it. Convinced Trevor to give up his hour of video calls this week so I can have two hours with you instead. Don’t ask what I did to convince him (hint: he has a crush on one of the female engies). I’ll hopefully see your beautiful face on Sunday if everything goes to plan, then we can chat and giggle over a cup of tea or something. Maybe you can tell me a bit about what’s been going on with Warren? Your last letter made mentions of somebody moving onto him (without my help?? shocker)._

_Anyways, I gotta finish up because my night patrol is coming up._

_Keep safe and think of me the next time you go to sleep, okay?_

_Love you,_

_xoxo_

_\- Chloe_

_ps. i'm not a photographer, but i can picture me and you together._

_pss. saint cecilia by foo fighters_

-

“Hey Max!” Chloe exclaims and looks over her shoulder.

“Yeah?” Max asks as she pours some boiling water into two mugs. “What’s up?”

“Are you a camera? Because everytime I look at you, I smile.” Chloe grins.

Max groans loudly and drops her face into her hands. “Don’t get me started on your pickup lines again-”

“Oh, you loved them - don’t lie,” Chloe says and looks as Max approaches with two steaming mugs. Throwing the letter back down, she grabs her mug once it’s offered - nursing it with both hands.

“I’ve read enough pick up lines to last me a lifetime,” Max utters and sips from her mug, shuffling over to press herself against her girlfriend. “You’re a prolific flirt.”

“Only for you.” Chloe smiles and wraps an arm around her as her head rests down on her shoulder. “Now tell me - what’s been going on with everyone?”

Max sips from her mug again and smiles. “So much.”

Chloe listens as Max tells her everything. Occasionally she kisses her on the forehead to remind herself that she’s right there, she’s back home - safe, albeit injured, but finally back beside her girlfriend once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIYA!
> 
> I said on my last fluff piece that I wanted to revisit, and I decided to do so sooner rather than later (whilst the story is still fresh in my mind, I also didn't want to leave it on such an angst bomb haha :P). This is a direct sequel to 'Houndin' For You', so if you read this but not that... GO READ IT OTHERWISE YA WON'T UNDERSTAND THINGS!
> 
> Like the previous work, I'll be experimenting with more stuff for my benefit whilst releasing a fluff story for y'all at the same time. Let me state again - THIS IS PURE FLUFF, ANGST, SOME DRAMA AND SLICE OF LIFE! THERE IS NO SET PLOT!! 
> 
> It will be short, probably longer than it's predecessor however. Like with most my other works, there will have no set update schedule (even though I have a few chapters pre-written ;) ), so stuff will be published as I write it.
> 
> HUGE NOTE - I KNOW THAT THE OPENING LYRICS ARE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT (the song has a very different meaning)!! I couldn't help but include Rise Against though, bite me :c
> 
> UNTIL NEXT TIME, HOPE YOU ENJOY!  
> \- :) WinTTY


	2. Plans

Max snores quietly.

Chloe listens, hands around her and pressed up against her chest as they hold her tight - their legs tangled beneath the sheets. She smiles when she hears her breath hitch for a few seconds, falling back into quiet snores briefly afterwards.

With a soft kiss pressed to the back of her neck, she quietly sniffs the strawberry-scented hair to once again remind her this is all real. This isn’t a dream, a figment of her imagination - Chloe really is here, home, in bed with her girlfriend. Momentary euphoria washes over her when she thinks about how lucky she actually is. She got _ the _ girl of her dreams, established an actual relationship and came back in one piece after suffering a life-threatening injury.

Chloe sniffles and kisses the back of Max’s neck again.

What now? Even though Max wants to spend time with her, Chloe knows that she must look for a job. She wants to make herself useful, contribute to their small household - wants to keep herself busy, brain and hands working again. Chloe doesn’t consider herself a workaholic, quite the opposite, but years in the military taught her discipline and responsibility to a degree. Yet who’d be willing take her skill set? Blackwell she barely passed, and since then she’d been a combat trooper, not exactly a wealth of diverse skills to her name. Chloe doubts that many employers would care if she can disassemble and assemble a handgun in less than a minute, much less take her limited work experience into account.

Max stirs after a few minutes, her fingers softly threading in between Chloe’s and squeezing their hands. “Morning,” she slurs against her pillow.

Chloe smiles and leaves a trail of kisses all over the back of her neck. “Morning baby.”

“Did you sleep well?” Max asks and turns her head to the side to catch a glimpse of her face.

Again, Chloe smiles and raises her head forward to brush their lips together. “Like a rock.”

“Mm,” she hums and drops her head back down. “Me too. I… I actually haven’t slept that well since you left.”

“Sweet dreams?” Chloe giggles and buries her nose in the chestnut hair.

“All about you,” Max whispers back and squeezes their hands.

Falling into silence, the two of them simply lay underneath their sheets in their spooning position. Occasionally one of them yawns as they continue to wake up, their hands squeezing at least once per minute - a silent gesture of their feelings to one another

“We should probably get up,” Chloe says and begins to rise from her spot.

Max immediately pulls her back down with a pout. “Just a bit longer? Pleasee-”

Chloe laughs and concedes, falling back down to her place and wrapping her hands around Max again. “Sure baby.”

Wasting no time, Max wiggles herself back into Chloe as close as she can. “Thank you.”

“Mhm.” Chloe closes her eyes and nuzzles her face against the back of her neck, kissing soft skin occasionally with a smile. “Max?”

“Yes?”

“How many days has Juliet given you?” Chloe asks.

“Uh,” she scrunches up her face in thought. “I think… five? Probably five. I’ll call her later to ask, I… I kinda forgot since you’ve arrived and it’s turned me into an emotional wreck.”

Chloe laughs again. “You’re a loveable dork.”

“I’m a dork, dork? You’re the dork.” Max giggles join in on Chloe’s laughter.

“Couldn’t be more cute if you tried,” Chloe whispers and lets out a content sigh.

“Why’d you ask?” Max raises her eyebrow and turns her head to the side.

“Oh, uh.” Chloe lets out an awkward smile and then looks over at the small window in their bedroom. “I kinda haven’t told my mom or step-dad when I’m coming home and, uh… I wanted to take you to them. Introductions and shit, you know?”

Max waits for a few seconds as she processes over the words. She smiles and quickly turns over to face her. “You want me meet your parents?”

“Yeah,” Chloe replies and runs one hand over the back of her neck. “I, uh… thought it’d be cool. Not only do they get a surprise in having me back, they get a cherry on top and get to meet my beautiful girlfriend they had zero knowledge about.”

“Okay.” Max brushes her nose against Chloe’s in an eskimo kiss. “When do you want to go?”

“Tomorrow if that’s cool with you.”

“That’s cool.”

“Cool.”

“Dork,” Max teases and presses a quick kiss to the tip of Chloe’s nose. “I… uhm. Since you’re going to introduce me to your parents, how about I introduce you to mine afterwards?”

Chloe nods albeit a bit hesitant. “Sure.”

Max looks over Chloe for a few seconds and then places their foreheads together gently. “I’m glad you want to do this.”

“It’s time, don’t you think? I mean… we’ve been together for months and neither our parents know. I think that I’m ready to, uh… take it a bit further, I guess? Plus, Christmas is just around the corner so...” Chloe shrugs. “It’s weird. I’ve never done this relationship stuff so I don’t know how to do this.”

“It’ll be fine,” the brunette assures her. “My parents are really open-minded about this kind of stuff, especially my mom. She… she kinda actually asked me once if I was into girls.”

“You’re serious?” Chloe raises her eyebrows comically.

“Yep.” Max giggles and gently brushes some stray hair behind Chloe’s ear. “They’ll like you, believe me.”

“Well I hella hope my parents will like you. My step-dad might come off as a bit of an asshole first but… he’s a good guy.” Chloe smirks briefly and winks. “Besides, if you’ve been such a  _ good girl _ in Blackwell like you’ve been telling me, I have no doubts he’ll remember you.”

Max laughs quietly and ignores the innocent blush that rises to her cheeks. “Well I look forward to meeting them both.”

“As I look forward to meeting both of yours.” Chloe bites her lip momentarily as she thinks something over. “I’ll also introduce you to Bumblebee.”

“Huh?” Max pulls her head back in confusion. “Bumblebee?”

“My car,” Chloe adds to ease the confusion. “Old junker that’s been sitting around in David’s garage since I’ve deployed years ago.”

“You named your car Bumblebee?” Max asks with a smirk. “Do I even want to delve down there?”

“Hey, it’s an old Chevy Camaro, okay? I… I got it as a gift from my dad. My biological dad, that is.” Chloe gazes at Max momentarily before speaking again, “We were going to restore it together but that kinda fell through when he, uh… died.”

Max stays silent as she locks eyes with Chloe. Her hand drifts up to her cheek, her thumb grazing over the pale skin. “I’m sorry. I… I look forward to meeting Bumblebee.”

“It’s an okay car,” Chloe admits and turns her head to the side to kiss the hand. “David helped me restore it once I kinda buried the hatchet with him. It was a bonding experience, let’s say. I… I got to know him and he got to know me and we just… fell in, I guess. Hadn’t said a bad word to one another since then.”

“Why hadn’t you told me before?” Max raises an eyebrow as she continues to stroke her thumb over Chloe’s cheek. “Why didn’t you bring it back from Arcadia either when you visited them?”

Chloe shrugs. “Dunno. Never brought up the topic I guess, besides it was in the garage and taken apart to a degree - David was doing maintenance since he kept it running over the years. I think he’ll be happy to know that I’m going to be taking it again, took us a lot of hard work to get that thing running.”

“Okay. So you called it Bumblebee because of the transformer, right?” Max teases with a smirk.

“Hella yes! Dude, Bumblebee is the best,” Chloe says with a glint of childhood admiration in her eye. “Seriously the best transformer by far.”

“So it’s yellow with a black stripe?” Max giggles as she asks.

“Oh yes,” she nods, “yellow with a black stripe. It’s probably a bit rusty now, but that's alright.”

“I can’t believe you sometimes.” Max giggles again and nuzzles her face again her cheek.

“Wanna get up now? I’ve still got to make you waffles as a promise, remember?” Chloe asks and presses her lips against Max’s cheek. “One waffle breakfast a day, everyday, for each day of my deployment.”

Max nods a few too many times.

* * *

Walking hand-in-hand through Oregon park, Chloe and Max share occasional conversation about things they’d yet to catch up on. With each look and smile at one another, their hands respond automatically with a squeeze and a light sway. They pass a few other couples, some shooting them glances - something that Chloe writes down to the fact they’re probably the only other same-sex couple they’ve encountered so far.

Sometimes Max stops and pulls up her camera, snapping pictures of snow-covered scenery around them, perhaps a candid shot of somebody across the frozen lake they pass. Chloe simply stands aside and watches as her girlfriend gets to work with a smile, always being the first to bring their hands back together and set off down a random path.

Max is pretty sure they walk in a circle about five times. Chloe assures her that she’s making things up. In reality, they actually walk in a circle about ten times, but each time they fail to notice because they’re too busy talking and looking at each other.

“So how do you wanna play out this whole parent-meetup thing?” Chloe asks as they pass through the same crossroad for the eleventh time.

Shrugging in reply, Max looks up at Chloe from beneath her thick scarf. “I don’t really care. Why don’t we just… go there and wing it? No need to plan things out.”

“Right.” Chloe smiles and tugs Max’s hand towards a bench. “Come, let’s get a break going.”

Max nods and quickly falls in line beside her. When they sit, she immediately cuddles herself up to Chloe. “I should probably warn my parents I’m coming with a plus one.”

“A plus one, huh?” Chloe smirks and brings up her hand to Max’s cheek, brushing aside her scarf to reveal her smile. “Is that what I am now?”

“Oh you know what I mean you dork,” she says and shakes her head in reply. “My mom would go ballistic if I came without alerting her beforehand.”

“My mom is going to go ballistic for not telling her I’m even back in the states.” Chloe chuckles and presses her lips against Max’s cheek.

Max giggles. “I can’t wait to see you get scolded in front of me. What a treat!”

“Pfft.” Chloe drapes an arm around Max and pulls her in closer. “If you want to see my mom scold me for real then -  _ hah _ \- ask her to tell you what I did for my 18th.”

“What’d you do for your 18th?” Max asks and adjusts her scarf.

“This,” she says in reply and gestures to her tattooed arm - the golden skull, red ribbon, vines and hibiscus flower slightly faded. Around it are more recent additions, including numerous amounts of military themed insignias and sayings. “I got the whole thing outlined on my birthday, came back home and my mom walked in on me changing shirts to one of my flannels to try and hide it.”

“You in a flannel?” Max giggles quietly and shakes her head. “I’d like to see  _ that.” _

“Eh,” she dismisses her with her hand. “I’ve grown out of all of them by now probably. They’d fit you though considering you’ve been a dwarf forever.”

“Okay, sure - get your head out of the clouds, dick.” Max rolls her eyes. “But… I’d like to see some of your old stuff. Glimpse into the life of the old Chloe Price, delinquent and punk.”

Chloe knocks their heads together as she chuckles. “Sure, but I warn you now - some of the shit left in my room ain’t gonna be pretty.”

“Oh?”

“How’s angsty and thought provoking graffiti on the walls sound? Posters of punk bands, chicks with guns and boobs out on display?” Chloe looks to the side.

Max narrows her eyes as she goes over the list in her head. “If that’s true then we’re redecorating your room, pronto.”

Chloe laughs and gives her girlfriend a squeeze. “Don’t worry, I haven’t looked at those posters since I met you.”

“But you slept in your room the last time you visited, right?” Max points out and jabs a finger into her side. “Don’t you lie to me, Chloe _ Elizabeth  _ Price.”

“Okay…  _ maybe _ I glanced at them once or twice, _ maybe _ more.” Chloe looks away quickly. “Ow!” she exclaims when Max jabs her elbow into her side, “What’s that for?”

“For technically cheating on me,” Max replies and looks at Chloe.

Drifting her hand to cup Max’s chin, Chloe leans in and gives her a deep kiss - one that Max accepts happily. “Sorry,” she mutters when they break apart, “you’re the only girl I want now though, nothing will change that.”

“Good.” Max rests her head against her shoulder again with a content sigh.

“You know,” Chloe begins as she looks around, “I actually think we’ve been here before. Huh. Maybe we  _ have _ actually been walking in a circle all along.”

Max facepalms.

* * *

“CHLOE!”

“MAX!”

Max watches as her girlfriend bursts into their bedroom with a look of concern on her face.

“What’s up? Why are you shouting?” Chloe says as she glances around the room.

“Oh, nothing - I was just calling you.” Max giggles on the spot when she notices the grumpy look on her face. “I need some help.”

“Sure.” Chloe approaches and sits herself down on the bed. “What is it?”

Max turns on her heel and pulls out two dresses from the wardrobe. One is a long, burgundy coloured dress with a sash across the chest to hold the entire thing up, reaching down to barely below her knees. The other is a black, equally long dress with spaghetti straps and a small faux bowtie on the back.

“What do you think would look better on me?” Max asks as she shakes the two dresses. “I need your input.”

“Well, you look beautiful in anything so…” Chloe laughs when she spots Max scowling at her. “I dunno. Why don’t you try them on so I can get a better look, hm?”

“Anything to get me naked, huh?” Max smirks but complies anyway.

Chloe watches as Max quickly slips out of her clothes and into the first dress. Giving it a look over, she brings a hand to her chin to look condescending. “Well… it’s  _ okay.  _ I don’t much like the colour, nor the whole sash thingy across your chest. Doesn’t look comfortable.”

“Okay,” Max replies and turns back around to grab the other dress.

“What’s this for anyway?” Chloe asks whilst Max slips out of the dress.

“Oh, n-nothing.” Max shrugs to try and brush the question off. “Just seeing if stuff still fits me is all.”

“Right.” Chloe leans back on her elbows, looking Max up and down whilst she slowly puts on the other dress.

Twirling in her place, Max holds her hands out. “What about this?”

“Wow.” Chloe bites her lip as she nods. “Wow. Oh yeah, that’s definitely better. That bowtie is cute too.”

“It comes with this also,” Max says and pulls out another bowtie band, placing it in her hair. “Does it look good?”

Chloe nods and springs to her feet. “Looks hella good,” she whispers and approaches Max, placing her hands on her hips. “Then again, you make anything look good.”

“Oh, shush.” Max rolls her eyes and turns around. With a squeak, she’s pulled back into Chloe’s arms. “Chloe!”

Immediately kissing her way across her exposed shoulder and up to her neck, Chloe giggles. “Just saying the truth babe.”

“Go away and let me pack stuff for tomorrow.” Max tries to step forward but finds herself being pulled back in again. “Chloe!”

“C’mon,” she whispers in her ear. “I’ve missed you hella _ hard.” _

Max spots the double entende instantly. “Perv!”

“You love it,” she continues and nips at the skin just below her earlobe. As her lips make their way back across her shoulder, her hand drifts down and underneath the black dress - bringing it up as she lets her nails scrape the back of Max’s thigh.

“Chloe,” she whispers and shudders when she feels the bite and suck against her shoulder. “Mm.”

“Do you want to?” Chloe asks for permission, running her hand up and down the thigh again.

“Yes.” Max nods a few times as she allows herself to recline against her girlfriend. “God, yes.”

Using the one hand still on her hip, Chloe turns Max around to face her - immediately picking her up afterwards and pushing her up onto the small drawer cabinet. As the loose drawers rattle, some clutter falls from the side and onto the floor.

“Shit,” Chloe mutters as she looks around at the mess. “Sorry.”

“Don’t care.” Max shakes her head and locks her arms behind Chloe’s neck. “Please, just… you know.”

Chloe smiles and runs her hands up her knees, pushing the dress up with them and exposing Max’s legs. Scraping her nails along the sides again, she bites her lip when she hears Max whimper at the sensation. “How d’you want it?”

Max shakes her head and leans back against the wall when she feels the nails scrape their way back down again. “God… y-your tongue. I want it down there right now.”

With a giggle, Chloe drops herself down sufficiently enough to be faced with Max’s wide open legs and the sight of her panties underneath her dress. Kissing her way across her thigh, she giggles when Max murmurs a string of expletives.

“Chloe, _ please, _ just-”

Max gasps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff is good for the heart - s c i e n t i f i c a l l y p r o v e n.
> 
> A note to everyone expecting Pretend We're Dead today - the next chapter is mess so I've had to take extra time in fixing it up and ensuring it's *okay* for release. I'm not sure when I'll have it ready considering it's very confusing right now, so it might be Monday before release - SORRY! Instead, I decided to release a shorter, fluffier chapter for another fic to make up for my shortfall, I promise another one tomorrow and Friday if PWD can't make it :D
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	3. Back Home

Chloe stands with Max underneath her arm, duffle resting between her legs. This time however it’s filled with their personal stuff - a fresh change of clothes, toiletries and some of Max’s photography equipment.

“I told you the bus would be late,” Chloe says and squeezes Max’s shoulder.

Max nods and lets slip a sigh. “Dumb.”

“Don’t call Greyhound dumb.” Chloe looks at her with a huge grin. “We met on a Greyhound, don’t forget that. Sure they’re late, sometimes their service  _ is _ shitty, but without Greyhound we’d never meet. That’s something to be thankful for, right?”

“Shush.” Max brings her hand up and points at the approaching Coach. “There’s our bus.”

As the coach rolls forward to a stop, the display flashes  **“PORTLAND-ARCADIA”.**

“Sweet.” Chloe whistles and hoists up her duffle, lowering her hand around Max’s waist instead. Waiting for a few minutes for the previous passengers to get off, Max and Chloe stand idly by.

“So we’re staying there two days?” Max asks to confirm their plans.

“Yeah. Today and tomorrow, we’re gonna leave in the early morning on the third day - it’ll be a four,  _ maybe  _ five hour drive to Seattle if we get unlucky with the traffic.” Chloe furrows her eyebrow and then smiles as Max again. “Then again - this is hoping that Bumblebee isn’t taken apart completely and sold for parts already.”

Max giggles. “I’m sure Bumblebee is fine.”

“Better  _ bee.” _

Max groans. “Shush now. Come on,” she says and takes Chloe’s hand, leading them up the steps onto the coach.

“Thanks,” Chloe mutters when she passes over both their tickets for inspection.

Once they’re clear, they make their way down the aisle between the seats - scouring for two spares somewhere among the surprisingly packed bus. Finding some space at the back, they quickly sit down - Chloe next to the window and Max just beside her.

“I’m kinda excited.” Max smiles and rests her head on her shoulder.

Chloe scoffs. “Yeah,” she mumbles and rests her head against the window. “It’s still going to be Arcadia though. I doubt much has changed - nothing ever changes there.”

“Hey,” Max whispers and knocks her head against Chloe, “cheer up baby.”

“I’m happy,” Chloe replies and presses a quick kiss against her forehead, “I’m just not that good at showing it, that’s all.”

“Okay.” Max smiles and reaches into her coat, pulling out her phone. “Want to listen to some music to pass the time?”

Chloe nods. “Sure.”

Plugging her earphones in, Max hands over one bud to Chloe and sticks the other in her ear. Shuffling the playlist, she places her phone between them and grabs Chloe’s hand - fingers intertwining automatically.

After a few seconds  **Weezer’s - Islands In The Sun** begins to play.

“Love you,” Chloe whispers and brings their hands up, giving Max’s fingers a quick kiss.

Max smiles. “Love you too.”

* * *

Their time of arrival is 12:37PM. Waiting for the coach to roll to its normal stand outside the Two Whales, Chloe spends the entire time looking out of the window at the unchanged scenery. The gas station is still there, so are all the fishing wharfs - still mostly unused - and even the shopping front looks exactly except for the addition of a new thrift store.

“This damn town is stuck in time,” she muses.

“I like it.” Max sticks her tongue out and giggles. “God… I haven’t been here since Blackwell.”

“Well you’ll be pleased to know that,  _ yes, _ Blackwell hasn’t changed either.” Chloe smiles and kisses her cheek. “Come on.”

Max rolls her eyes and stands up, waiting for Chloe to fish out their duffle from the overhead compartment. Once they’re both ready, they set off back down the aisle and step off the bus.

Looking around, Chloe smirks when she spots the Two Whales is open. “Joyce would be working there today if not for me.”

“I think you’re sweet for doing that for her.” Max grabs her hand and pulls herself closer.

Chloe shrugs. “I wanted mom to have you for the whole two days, couldn’t have her running off to work only minutes after meeting you, could I? Besides, her manager has known me for years and was more than happy to let her off to see me.”

_ “Still. _ You’re sweet.” Max scrunches up her nose as she stares at the diner, momentarily grabbing her camera and snapping a few pictures for good measure. “There, first pictures of Arcadia in years.”

“I’m sure you’ll be out of memory by the time we have to go to Seattle.” Chloe snickers and looks back at the diner. “I’ll take you there tomorrow for something if you want.”

“Sounds like a date,” Max says and giggles, her hand finding its way back into Chloe’s. “Now where do we go?”

Chloe looks in the opposite direction of the diner, gesturing over with a nod. “This way - let's go nerd.”

* * *

The Price-Madsen household has, like all of Arcadia,  _ not _ changed at all. Painted blue, the residence had a small front yard with a bench, a half-wall separating it from the street and a row of bushes cutting off view from nosy neighbours. In the driveway a muscle car was parked, the garage closed but quite obviously being used by the sound of clatter from behind the door.

“Looks like David is home too.” Chloe smiles and looks to her immediate right.

Max, unlike Chloe, is somewhat nervous. Whilst happy that she’s meeting her girlfriend’s parents, she’s also hesitant and a bit scared of what they’ll think of her. “Okay,” she whispers in reply.

“Hey,” Chloe says and turns Max towards her, “you’ll be fine, don’t worry. If anything it should be me shitting my pants - mom is going to kill me for not introducing you sooner.”

Unable to not smile at the thought, Max squeezes their hands. “Okay. I’ll be okay, just a bit nervous - that’s all.”

“Here, for good luck.” Chloe giggles and presses a kiss against her forehead quickly, ruffling up her hair in the process. “You’ll be fine baby. Come on.”

Making their way up the stone steps and up the path to the door, Chloe gives Max one more kiss and then knocks. As they wait Max keeps her hand tightly clasped with Chloe’s, her other playing with the edge of her jacket absently, heartbeat steadily increasing with each passing moment.

Before long the sound of muffled footsteps echoes behind the door. The lock audibly clicks and the door swings open, revealing a woman in her early-50’s. With a graying bun on her head, she wears an apron on top of a simple dress.

Chloe smiles. “Hey mom,” she says and immediately looks towards Max. “Uh. This is my girlfriend, Max.”

Joyce looks visibly stunned. “Chloe… uh, what-,” she stutters out and looks between her and Max. Giving herself a moment to process, she crosses her arms and stares at Chloe. “You’re home and I ain’t been told yet? This is your girlfriend? Chloe Elizabeth Price, you’ve some darn explainin’ to do.”

“I’m happy to see you too, mom.” Chloe chuckles and drops Max’s hand briefly, moving in to hug her still slightly stunned mother.

Chuckling at the situation, Joyce returns the hug. “I’ve missed you too hun, don’t worry. Gosh, don’t get me started on that whole business with your darn injury either!”

Max smiles and stifles a quiet laugh with her hand.

“So this is your girlfriend?” Joyce asks as they move away, her eyes scrutinising the brunette immediately. “Since when has this been a thing, huh?”

Chloe grins and takes Max’s hand again, looking down at her. “Uh… since before my recent deployment.”

Joyce narrows her eyes on Chloe briefly, looking back at Max after a few seconds. “Come here hun,” she says and pulls Max into a hug before she knows whats happening.

Max simply accepts the gesture and decides to hug Joyce back with a smile.

“Actually,” Joyce begins as they move back, her hand on her chin. “I think I might remember you... ain’t you been in the Two Whales before?”

“Uhm. Yes, actually,” Max nervously chuckles and feels her hand being grabbed by Chloe again, squeezed afterwards to give her a small boost of confidence. “I came to Blackwell for my senior year in 2013. I used to frequent the diner because the waffles were delicious.”

“Nice save.” Joyce smiles and then looks back at Chloe. “Well, what are ya waitin’ for? Come in, come in.”

Chloe tugs Max’s hand and hoists up her duffle, leading the two of them inside. Kicking the door shut with her foot, Chloe drops the bag beside the staircase. “Come on,” she says towards Max and leads her into the living room - following Joyce.

“David!” Joyce exclaims in the direction of the garage. After a few moments of silence, she shouts again - louder. “DAVID!”

_ “What is it?” _

“We’ve got guests!” Joyce shouts back and glances at Max with her smile. “Come in, sit down both of ya - I’ll make us all some coffee.”

With another gentle tug, Chloe leads Max over to the couch and sits down - pulling her close. Giving a glance around, she sneaks a quick kiss against her cheek. “Told you mom would like you.”

Max smiles and nods her head. “I can’t believe she actually remembered me from the Two Whales. Wowser.”

“Yeah, mom is like that - remembers everyone. Good with faces or whatever.” Chloe squeezes their hands and smiles.

“What’s the matter Joyce?” David says as he enters from the garage. With an immediate look focused on the couch, he spots Chloe and Max. “Chloe?”

Upon hearing his voice, Chloe shoots up to attention - hand against forehead in mock salute. “Sir!”

David laughs and steps forward, pulling her into a hug. “How are you? Jesus, when we heard about what happened…”

“I know, I know.” Chloe smiles. “It’s just a bit sore now, but I’m glad to be amongst the living.”

“Who’s this?” David asks and then smiles his best at Max.

“Uh, David - meet Max. Max, David.” Chloe pulls Max up and drapes her arms across her shoulder, pressing a kiss against her temple. “Max is my girlfriend.”

Slightly surprised at the sudden revelation, David doesn’t show it - instead he extends his hand across to Max. “David, Chloe’s step-dad.”

Max shakes his hand and freezes in her place when he stops but doesn’t let go. “Uh-”

“You’re Max… uh,” he thinks for a second, tapping his dirty boot on the floor, “Max Caulfield, right? I remember you, used to hang about with Kate Marsh and that other kid.”

“That’s me,” she replies and smiles, breathing a mental sigh of relief when he lets go of her hand. “It’s uhm… kinda crazy that you’d remember me, haha.”

“I’m good with faces.” David smiles and wipes his hand on a dirty rag again. “I’ll go wash up and be right down.”

Chloe nods and sits herself and Max back down, hearing the heavy footfalls disappear down the hallway and up the stairs. “How you holding up babe?”

“I’m okay.” Max smiles and buries her face in Chloe’s shoulder. “It’s actually not that bad. I… I thought it’d be harder, more awkward?”

“I’m lucky both my folks are so welcoming.” Chloe grins and kisses Max’s temple again. “Now we sit through my mom's lecture for not calling, not telling her about you and for getting myself nearly killed.”

Max laughs. “I look forward to it.”

* * *

Chloe buries herself further into the couch. “Mom-”

“-and don’t get me started on the day she came home and had that darn tattoo on her arm!” Joyce drawls on as she points a finger at her daughter. “You were walking on a thin line, lady.”

“Mom!” Chloe sits up as she calls out towards Joyce. “Please,  _ spare me-” _

“You don’t get off so easy princess,” Joyce continues and sips her coffee, “I’ve only got today and tomorrow to enjoy the company of Max, you bet I won’t be sparing a detail.”

Chloe groans.

Max laughs and tugs her hand to pull her closer, a wide grin resting on her face.

David decides to help as he sits forward. “So, Chloe, how’s the service treating you?”

Thankful at the change of topic, Chloe perks up a bit and looks at David. “It was good. Bearable.”

“Was?” he asks and raises an eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah, about that,” she runs her hand over the back of her neck awkwardly, “I kinda got honourably discharged because of this,” she gestures to her torso, bandaged underneath her shirt, “so… I’m unemployed right now.”

Joyce focuses on Chloe for a whole second before her face becomes one of elation. “It’s about time you got yourself out of the army.”

Chloe nods but keeps her eyes on David. “I kinda promised to Max here that I’d leave after my last tour anyway. Too dangerous, you know?”

David takes a moment and then nods, displaying a proud smile. “I can respect that. I’m proud of you Chloe, really.”

She smiles as she hears the words, the sincere warmth in David’s words making her somewhat happy. “Thanks David. It, uh… means alot.”

“If you ever need to talk about anything,” he sits forward a bit more, “then don’t hesitate to call or visit.”

“I will,” Chloe smiles and bobs her head, “don’t think I’ll need it but… I will if I do, don’t worry.”

Max squeezes her hand and rests her head on her shoulder with a dopey smile. “Mr. Madsen-”

“Max, I told you to call me David,” he says and points a finger at her with a smile.

“David,” she corrects herself, “I was wondering if Mr. Jefferson still teaches at Blackwell?”

He nods, “Indeed he does, still teaches Photography.”

“Right. Would it be possible for me to go on campus to maybe talk to him? I want to show him some of my latest work, see how it compares to some of my old stuff,” Max smiles as she receives a squeeze from Chloe’s hand. “Just a quick ordeal, no hassle-”

“That’ll be fine Max, don’t worry,” David says and finishes his cup of coffee. “I’ll talk to Principal Grant about it, I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to have an old student visit.”

“Thank you.”

“Gosh, would ya look at the time?” Joyce says in surprise as she spots the clock on the wall. “We’ve spent near enough an entire day talkin’, I think it’s time the two of you rest, you must be exhausted.”

“Quite the opposite thanks to your lectures,” Chloe mumbles under her breath.

Max fails to hold back a giggle.

Joyce scowls at Chloe, “What was that princess? I may be old, but my hearin’ is just fine - don’t you forget,” she says and lets out a warm chuckle afterwards.

_ “Okay, mom.”  _ Chloe rolls her eyes and pulls herself up, helping Max stand up beside her.

“Get yourselves upstairs, me and David will clean up-”

“No, we’ll help-”

“It’s fine Max sweetie, just go upstairs and let Chloe show you around her room,” Joyce interrupts Max and flashes a warm smile. “Go and make yourselves at home.”

Chloe wastes no time in dragging Max out of the living room.

* * *

Pushing the door open, Chloe steps inside and throws her hands out to her sides. “Ta-da!” she exclaims and gestures around the room.

Max enters and immediately her eyes focus on the posters on the walls - punk bands, concerts, army related stuff and… naked women with an assortment of guns. “Nu-uh,” she says and begins to walk past Chloe.

“Woah, woah - wait!” Chloe slams the door shut behind them and sets off after Max. “Wait!”

“These are coming off,” she says and grasps at one poster. Within seconds, her hand is pulled back as she herself is hoisted up. “Chloe!”

“Wait,” she repeats and holds her tight to prevent her escape. “Let me do it,” she smiles and kisses her cheek, “please?”

Max narrows her eyes but nods. “Fine,” she breathes out as she’s put back down onto her feet.

Chloe smiles and shuffles around her, grabbing at a poster and quickly taking it off the wall - rolling it up. “Gonna miss you,” she whispers and receives a jab into her side, “Ow!”

“Hurry up,” Max demands and crosses her arms, watching Chloe.

As commanded, Chloe makes her way around the room and takes off posters one-by-one, only leaving up her old punk bands and concerts dates up, rolling up the rest and tossing them into her closet. “There, she says and places her hands on the hip whilst looking around her now significantly changed room. “Wow, this is different.”

Max’s frown turns upside down as she skips over towards Chloe and slips her hands between her arms, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you.”

“Anything else  _ princess,” _ she asks, “or will that be all?”

With the posters gone, Max takes a look around the room again and spots everything else suddenly coming into view. “Wowser,” she whispers as she gazes at the ancient hifi resting on Chloe’s small bookshelf crammed with a bit of everything, “This is… cool.”

Chloe snorts, “You could say that,” she mumbles and begins to shuffle them towards the bed.

“You weren’t kidding about the whole angsty graffiti either,” Max gestures to the walls, “This is some deep stuff, huh?”

Pulling them down onto the mattress, Chloe snickers. “Baby, I was like a teenage anarchist.”

Max rolls her eyes as she buries her face in the nook of Chloe’s neck. “Against Me? Really?”

“Implying you don’t like my music tastes,” she replies and looks up at the white-washed ceiling.

“How’d you think it went?” Max asks, a bit unsure herself.

“Are you kidding me?” Chloe giggles and presses a kiss into her hair. “Mom absolutely _ loves _ you like the daughter she never had-”

_ “-sure-” _

“-whilst David is probably the same. He’s an enigma sometimes, hard to figure him out - but you’d  _ know _ if he didn’t like you. Your spotless Blackwell record probably helps that a bit.”

Max nods quietly, “Okay,” she whispers and sighs.

“Don’t worry about it.” Chloe smiles and sits up, pulling Max up with her as she sits on her lap. “We should probably get changed and stuff, I’ll show you where the bathroom is.”

“I need a shower,” Max whispers and nods her head.

Chloe smirks, “Yeah, me too,” she says and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh, uh… I don’t know Chloe, your mom and step-dad… uh, you sure?”

She shrugs, “Who cares?”

“Okay,” Max nods after a few moments and smiles. “Let’s go then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M E E T T H E P A R E N T S.
> 
> I've decided to make Jefferson a normal teacher rather than psychopath, this being an AU and everything. David is different also, chalk that down to the fact him and Chloe buried that hatchet years ago - also she kinda followed his footsteps, so he'd be proud of that. Joyce embarrassing Chloe like any good parent, RIGHT?
> 
> God I fricking love this AU so much!! It's so fun to write but y'all know that already.
> 
> BYE!!  
> \- :) WinTTY


	4. Nostalgia

Chloe groggily wakes up. Chloe  _ tries _ to wake up at least, for sleep is addicting when you’ve been drilled to wake up at 5AM each morning for the past five years of your life.

So Chloe closes her eyes again and cuddles up to Max, but in reality she’s cuddling up to a pillow instead because Max isn’t there. Noticing the fact that the pillow is not warm, nor as soft as her girlfriend, Chloe opens her eyes and groans.

She swings her legs over the edge of her mattress and stands up, stretching her limbs briefly as a yawn escapes her mouth. Looking herself down, she decides that her shorts and tank-top are appropriate enough wear for her to go downstairs - after all, this is still  _ technically _ her home.

With a smirk, she leaves her room and carefully closes her door - idling at the top of the stairs as she listens to the muffled voices downstairs.

“-are you tellin’ me that it was _ that _ serious?”

“Eh… y-yeah? I thought she might’ve told you-”

“Chloe tellin’ me things that’d make me worry? That’d be the day sweetie.”

Max’s giggle echoed around the kitchen.

“At least she’s safe now, thank god for that.” Joyce’s sigh was rather audible even where Chloe was standing. “I’ve never liked her goin’ off to act the hero, not after everythin’ that David told me happened to him when he was in the army. I couldn’t possibly imagine my daughter livin’ through those horrors.”

“I… I think she’s had it rather easy, thankfully.”

“That’s because Chloe is strong, hun. She’s had a rough time after William’s death but… she recovered, came out stronger.”

Chloe rubs the residue sleep out of her eyes and decides to head downstairs, taking the first few steps heavily enough to announce her oncoming presence. Skipping the last step, she makes her way down the hallway and into the kitchen.

“Morning,” she says and immediately approaches Max, pressing herself against her back and wrapping her arms around her.

Max smiles and slurps her coffee, “Hi,” she whispers in reply.

Joyce looks at the couple with a warm smile of her own, shortly turning into a frown as she narrows her eyes on Chloe.

She notices and looks back at her with an apologetic smile. “Sorry?”

“Chloe Elizabeth Price-”

“Mom, I lived okay? It’s fine-”

“You could’ve died! Why didn’t you tell me it was far more serious?” Joyce asks as she crosses her arms.

“Because I didn’t want you worrying,” she replies and closes her eyes, dropping her chin onto Max’s shoulder. “It was bad enough that Max was hysterical over it.”

Max stays quiet and glances up at Joyce, noticing the woman removing her frown shortly.

Looking at her daughter, Joyce sighs and lowers her arms beside herself again. “I don’t want you lyin’ to me again Chloe.”

With eyes still closed, Chloe nods and squeezes Max. “Okay. Sorry.”

“Now, why don’t the two of you sit yourselves down whilst I make you some breakfast, huh?” Joyce’s demeanour completely changes within moments as she flashes another warm smile at the couple. “Max told me you’ve been makin’ her my waffles, that true?”

Chloe nods. “Oh yeah,” she says and presses a kiss to Max’s cheek, “she loves them.”

“Delicious,” Max smiles and sips her coffee.

“Good, go get yourselves seated then.” Joyce dismisses them with her hand as she sets off to work immediately.

Pushing them forward, Chloe awkwardly walks behind Max as she keeps her arms constantly wrapped around her, their bodies still pressed together. Moments later they sit down beside one another at the table, their hands automatically joined underneath.

“Bonding with mom, huh?” Chloe whispers and smirks.

Max giggles as she looks at her. “She’s just been telling me more embarrassing stories about you.”

Chloe groans loudly and drops her head onto the table with a loud  _ thud, _ prompting Joyce to look her way briefly.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Max admits and bobs her head, “just some of your high-school mischief with one Rachel Amber.”

At the mention of the name, Chloe turns her head to the side and looks at Max. “Seriously?”

Max nods slowly. “Yep.”

Chloe groans again, making a point of slamming her head against the wooden table again.

“Stop hittin’ your damn head on the table!” Joyce calls out from the kitchen, waggling a finger at her daughter.

“Sorry!”

* * *

Idling at the intersection, Chloe shoots a glance at Max sitting beside her and looking through her window. She smirks, looks back at the road and presses the pedal; hearing as the V8 roars beneath the hood of the ‘73 Camaro she’s driving.

“I swear if you do that one more time,” Max turns towards her and points a finger in her direction, “then we’re going to Seattle in a Greyhound instead.”

Chloe laughs, “Sorry,” she says through her dying chuckles. “Couldn’t resist, feels good to finally be driving this thing again,” she continues and sticks her arm out of the window, patting the side of her door.

Max rolls her eyes and looks out the window again. Moments later she feels her hand picked up as another set of fingers wiggle in between hers; her lips tug at the side to form a smile in response.

Once the light turns green, Chloe wastes no time in kicking the muscle car forward again; her destination being the Blackwell Academy.

Thankfully they reach the school in short time; after all, Arcadia Bay isn’t a city the size of Seattle or Portland. Max is the first one out of the vehicle once Chloe pulls into the parking lot, herself following suit once the engine dies down.

“Wowser,” Max says to herself as she looks over the mostly unchanged campus grounds. “You were right, this place hasn’t changed.”

Chloe snorts and slams the door shut, locking the car. “Told you before babe, Arcadia never changes.”

Max waits and immediately takes Chloe’s hand the moment she’s within reach, tugging her forward towards the grounds.

Giggling at how eager she is, Chloe sticks close as she looks around the area. “Blackhell Academy, as I live and breathe,” she mumbles, “thought I’d never be back in this place.”

“I liked it,” Max admits and shrugs, slowing their pace once they enter the pavilion in front of the main building. “It has the small-town feel.”

“What is it with you and small towns? Woman, we ain’t moving to Twin Peaks if that’s what you’re constantly hinting at,” she says and earns herself an immediate frown.

“I’ve lived in a city all my life, give me a break.” Max smiles as she takes a deep breath, catching the faraway scent of pine trees, freshly cut grass and a hint of salty sea air. “Places like Arcadia appeal to me, there’s a friendly, tight-knit community and an… atmosphere. Not to mention the fact they’re great places to photograph.”

Chloe gives up and rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Anyway, where’s this Jefferson dude you’re so stoked about?”

“In here,” she says and leads them up the stairs into the academy; pushing the door open and immediately pulling Chloe inside with her.

Like the outside, the inside of Blackwell Academy is still very much the same. Posters for parties are plastered up on the walls, the trophy cabinet is even more filled than before and the layout is exactly what it had been for years.

“Max Caulfield, would you look at that?”

Max smiles as she spots Michelle Grant standing outside the principal's office with her own grin. “Hello Mrs. Grant.”

“Oh please, call me Michelle - you’re no longer a student here, and besides, you were one of my favourites,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. Looking up at the taller woman beside Max, she smiles even wider. “My, my - is that Chloe Price?”

“In the flesh,” Chloe mumbles and gives a half-hearted smile.

Mrs. Grant looks back down to Max, “So I must ask - what brings you back to Blackwell Academy, Max?”

“Oh,” she says in surprise, “I was just… hoping to talk to Mr. Jefferson, show him some of my newer work; see how it compares to my older stuff.”

“Ah yes, Mr. Madsen did indeed tell me to expect you,” Mrs. Grant smiles again, gesturing the two of them towards the hallway. “You’ll find your old photography teacher in his classroom, I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see one of his best students again.”

“Thank you,” Max says and gives the woman a wave of her hand, taking Chloe’s afterwards and starting to drag them down the hallway.

As they walk towards the Photography classroom, a few of the students shoot the couple weird, quizzical glances - most of them probably floating somewhere between  _ ‘what the hell are you doing here’ _ or  _ ‘are you two gay?’ _

“Here it is,” Max says as they arrive in front of a door covered in frosted glass. “Uhm, you can stay outside if you want-”

“-and miss your old teach fawning over your work? Hella no,” Chloe says and before Max can even react she shoves the two of them through the door and inside the room.

Mark Jefferson, now in his late 40’s and sporting a similar hairstyle and beard he’d done for years, looks up from his desk in surprise. Upon noticing Max, his face forms a smile. “Max!”

“Hello Mr. Jefferson-”

“Mark,” he corrects her as he takes a few steps towards the couple.

“Mark,” she repeates and smiles, “It’s uh… good to see you.”

“Likewise, likewise,” he says and brings up one hand to stroke his beard, raising an eyebrow at Chloe. “And this is?”

“Oh!” Max jumps in her place and steps aside to reveal Chloe. “This is Chloe, she’s my uhm… girlfriend.”

Jefferson takes a moment to process the words but keeps his smile as he continues to stroke his beard. “I vaguely remember your face,” he says and points his finger at Chloe for a few seconds. “Did you attend Blackwell before?”

“Yeah. I lived in Arcadia my entire life, went to Blackwell and left the moment I graduated.” Chloe shoves her hands into her surplus jacket and shrugs. “You might’ve known my friend, Rachel Amber; used to take photography classes.”

“Rachel? Of course I remember Rachel!” Jefferson exclaims and bobs his head. “She was really bright, had the perfect look for a model - albeit she  _ was _ a bit short.”

“Yeah,” Chloe looks around the class, “last I heard she was living in LA with her boyfriend, had a modelling gig. That was years ago, dunno what she’s up to now.”

Jefferson nods and looks back down to Max. “So Max, what brings one of Blackwell’s greatest photographers back to her humble classroom roots?”

“I was actually hoping to talk to you,” she says and makes her way towards on of the tables nearby, retrieving her burdensome portfolio from her camera bag. “I’ve been building my portfolio over the years, I wanted to get your professional opinion on it.”

Approaching her, Jefferson sat himself down on the table and patiently waited. “How about galleries, art exhibitions? Have you been sending your work, placing yourself out in the greater world?”

“Oh, uh,” she shoots a nervous glance at Chloe; one thankfully not caught by the woman as she continued to survey the classroom. Max nods silently at Jefferson.

Catching on quickly, Jefferson smiles and looks down at her now open album between them. “Max, I’ve always said you had talent for photography - both analogue and digital - and it seems you’ve only been improving since I’ve last seen your work.”

Chloe tunes out the entire photography talk, instead focusing herself on the random posters, magazines and pictures hung up around the classroom.

* * *

“I could eat an entire horse and I still wouldn’t be satiated!”

Max giggles as she follows her girlfriend through the door and into the diner.

Chloe gives the Two Whales a quick scan, noticing that her old booth is - like always - empty and welcoming as ever. “Let’s go,” she says and saunters her way through the diner towards the table.

Sitting themselves beside one another, the two share a quick kiss before Chloe drapes an arm over Max and leans back in the seats. “What do you want to eat?”

She shrugs, “I don’t mind,” she says as she cuddles up to Chloe.

Seconds later a rather young, teenage waitress comes up to their table - her hair held in a ponytail, auburn coloured with pink highlights. “Hiya, welcome to the Two Whales diner - what can I get ya?”

Chloe finds herself staring at the girl a moment too long and as such she’s caught by Max.

“One burger and fries,” Max says in the direction of the waitress, her eyes still focused on Chloe who is in turn focused on the waitress.

“Gotcha,” the girl says and turns on her heel, walking back around the counter.

Once she’s gone, Chloe recovers. 

“Saw something you liked?” Max says in a low voice, still staring at Chloe.

“Huh?” Chloe looks at Max and shrugs. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Max shrugs and gestures behind her, “perhaps some chick with a ponytail, pink highlights? Liked what you saw?”

Chloe rolls her eyes and pulls Max closer, peppering her face with kisses. “I was staring at her highlights, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” Max huffs out and crosses her arms. “Is that it?”

“You’re real jealous babe,” she replies and places one more lingering kiss on her forehead. “Chill out, I’ve no interest in anybody but you.”

Max says nothing, opting to stay silent whilst they wait.

Only a few minutes later the waitress approaches them again with two plates; one with a burger and the other with fries.

“Here’s ya order,” she places the plates down with a smile, “give me a shout if ya need anything else.”

Chloe doesn’t look at her at all, gazing at the linoleum table instead until she leaves.

Nudging her girlfriend, Max pushes the plate with the burger towards her. “Eat dork, and  _ no, _ I’m not mad if that’s why you’re sulking.”

Processing the words, Chloe smiles and quickly kisses Max on the cheek. “Love you.”

Helping herself to the fries, Max giggles as she chows down on a few. “So where do you want to go next?”

Chloe shakes her head and nods at her in reply. “No, where do _ you _ want to go next?”

Max shrugs. “How about the beach?” she says after a few seconds, “we can go up to the lighthouse afterwards, I can take a few pictures - maybe a timelapse.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

Hand in hand, the two of them walked down the boardwalk placed alongside the sandy beach. A few large rock outcroppings broke the otherwise flat seaboard; waves crashed onto the grained shore and left its print as it retreated time and time again.

“I liked walking here when I was in Blackwell,” Max says as she looks over the coastline. “It was relaxing, soothing, and it allowed me to take plenty of pictures.”

Chloe smiles and squeezes their hands. “So, what’s this for?” she asks as she gestures to the tripod she’s carrying in her other hand.

“Like I said in the diner; a timelapse,” Max replies and points up at the lighthouse. “Although it depends on how long we stay up there.”

“However long you want.” Chloe smiles and looks up at the lighthouse herself. “Let’s go up there now so you can setup.”

Max nods and happily leads the two of them towards the forested path up to the lighthouse.

Climbing the hill, they struggle a bit as the wind picks up halfway up. Chloe powers through and drags Max behind her as she squirms at how fast they’re going, but before she can protest further they find themselves standing in the clearing; the lighthouse just up ahead and the maintenance shed just beside it.

“Come on,” Chloe says and places the tripod down near the bench, “do your magic and whatever.”

Max rolls her eyes and retrieves her camera from her bag, attaching it to the tripod before she begins to adjust it. After a few minutes she smiles and takes a step back, looking over the angle she’s set.

“You done yet?” Chloe exclaims from the bench, her legs crossed as she looks over Arcadia Bay far below. “You’re missing the view, nerd.”

“Shush!” Max calls out and makes a few last adjustments, letting the camera roll afterwards. Making her way over to the bench, she sits down next to Chloe and sighs. “Now I’m done.”

Chloe smiles and retrieves a cigarette, gesturing it towards Max. “Do you mind?”

She shakes her head and cuddles up to her instead.

Sparking up, Chloe takes a drag and blows the bitter smoke out to the side; away from Max. “It’s been years since I’ve been up here.”

“It’s nice,” Max admits and sniffs in the cold air, catching a whiff of cigarette smoke. “Definitely one of the best places I’ve photographed.”

“So what’d Jefferson say about your portfolio?” Chloe asks and looks at Max. “I kinda faded out when you got into your whole photography mumbo jumbo, sorry.”

Max giggles as she absently plays with Chloe’s fingers. “He said it was impressive; encouraged me to send some stuff off to a few galleries.”

“Well are you going to do it?”

“I… I kinda already did. A few months ago, right around the time you left,” she mumbles under her breath.

Giving her a glance, Chloe raises her eyebrows. “You’re serious? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Max admits and shrugs. “It’s the first time I’ve really done it, didn’t know what to expect so… y’know.”

“Well… did anything come of it?” Chloe looks down at her and puffs on her cigarette.

“Actually, yeah.” Max smiles and looks at her tripod briefly. “I… uhm… I received a reply from a gallery in San Francisco; asked me whether they’d be able to display at one of their exhibitions.”

“Holy shit Max!” Chloe exclaims and gently shakes her. “That’s hella impressive! So did you agree?”

“Yeah,” she continues and drifts her fingers across Chloe’s palm, “it’s not happening for a few months yet, but they’ve invited me to attend if possible.”

Chloe sputters out some smoke to the side and coughs for a few seconds. “Jesus,” she wheezes and recovers - staring at Max. “Are you going to go?”

“I don’t know-”

“Max, you can’t pass up an opportunity like this,” she says and shakes her again. “Seriously, ask Juliet to give you time whenever it’s happening - I’ll take you down there.”

“What if you’ve got a job by then? You can’t just… drop stuff to take me there.”

“I hella will,” Chloe shakes her head, “I’ll drag your ass down to San Francisco if need be, seriously.”

Max sighs and closes her eyes. “Are you sure I should go?”

“Babe, this is  _ huge _ for you. What was that thing you said to me when we met? Something about broadening your horizons?” Chloe smiles and presses a kiss against her forehead. “You’re going to go there and impress, get your name out there.”

“I guess.”

Chloe pulls her closer as a wave of cold, salty wind hits them. “That’s so awesome, I’m so happy for you.”

“It’s not that impressive Chloe, it’s just a small gallery; not Zeitgeist, you know?” Max shivers and presses even closer, digging herself beneath her surplus jacket.

“Stop downplaying yourself, shush for now.” Chloe giggles and rests her cheek on Max’s head. “Let’s just hang out up here for a bit whilst your camera does it’s magic or whatever, then we’ll head home.”

* * *

When they return, it’s around 4:30PM and Max has more than enough pictures and film to last her the entire trip. Entering the house, they’re met with a smiling Joyce peeking at them from the kitchen.

“What kept ya two so long? I thought you’d only gone to Blackwell,” she says and crosses her arms with a smirk.

“We were exploring Arcadia a bit, reminiscing and shit; nostalgia or whatever.” Chloe throws her jacket onto the coat hooks, following Max down the hallway. “What’s for dinner?”

Max and Joyce both laugh at Chloe’s immediate question. “Just you wait and see,” Joyce says and disappears into the kitchen.

Entering the living room, Chloe and Max sit themselves down on the couch and turn up the TV a bit.

“Anywhere else in Arcadia you want to visit when we leave tomorrow?” Chloe asks as she drapes an arm over Max’s shoulders.

She shakes her head, “Not really. Let’s just hang out with your parents until we’ve gotta go to sleep.”

“Sure.” Chloe looks at the TV and snorts at the show being displayed. “Did you call your mom yet?”

“Shit,” Max throws her head back and shakes it. “I forgot.”

“That’s fine, just call them tomorrow or something.”

“Remind me in the morning once we leave Arcadia,” Max says and leans over, burying her face in Chloe’s chest. “You smell like cigarettes,” she comments.

Chloe laughs and runs her hand through Max’s hair, scraping her scalp with her nails. “I did smoke like two cigarettes you nerd, obviously I’d smell like them.”

“I like when you smell like cigarettes,” she continues and sniffs quietly. “Smells like you.”

Chloe laughs harder, catching the brief attention of her mother in the kitchen. “What’s goin’ on over there?” she asks as she leans over the kitchen island.

“Nothing!” Chloe calls back and waits until she hears Joyce return to the kitchen. Glancing at Max, she smirks. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“I’m only a weirdo around you,” Max whispers and moves up to peck her lips, shortly afterwards she drops her head onto her lap and makes herself comfortable.

Watching the TV together, the two of them share kisses and whispers the entire time they wait for Joyce’s dinner - both of them hearing the constant clatter and humming coming from the kitchen. Somewhere along the line they hear the front door open and shut briefly.

“Hey hon,” David says and kisses Joyce in passing, walking down the hallway and dropping himself onto an armchair next to the couch.

“Sup.” Chloe flicks her chin to David in greeting. “How are the Blackwell hicks treating you?”

David scoffs and takes off his cap, placing it down onto the armrest as he runs his hand through his buzzcut hair. “Like always, entitled little brats.”

Max giggles and continues to watch the TV.

“Principal Grant was going on about you two the entire day,” David reveals and smiles. “Said it was a real pleasure meeting the two of you again, although she had a bit of an issue remembering whether or not the two of you knew each other.”

“Right.” Chloe rolls her head and throws it back gently.

“Jefferson made mention that you were a couple-”

“Are you cereal?” Max asks and pulls her head up, looking at David.

He laughs and nods. “Safe to say the two of you were the talk of Blackwell most of the day, students and faculty staff alike.”

“Figures with Arcadia being such a hick town and all,” Chloe mumbles.

“Chloe!” Max looks up at her and playfully slaps her knee.

“What? It’s true. Place is a shit-”

Max bites into Chloe’s thigh to shut her up, prompting her to jump slightly in both pain and surprise.

“Ow!” Chloe exclaims and immediately grabs Max by her arms, pulling her up into a tight embrace. “You apologise right now,” she whispers as she places their faces inches away.

Putting on her best puppy eyes, Max pouts. “Sowwy,” she coo’s and steals a quick peck from Chloe.

Wanting to give them some privacy, David gets up from his place and makes his way to the kitchen.

Chloe grins when she spots David making his departure. She shoots a glance at Max and dives down into a far more fulfilling kiss.

* * *

“Move up baby, I’ve hardly any space in my own damn bed,” Chloe whispers and thrusts herself against Max to shove her forward a bit.

“Sorry,” Max mumbles and moves up, waiting a moment before wiggling back into Chloe. “That better?”

“Mhm,” she hums and presses a kiss against her neck, once again acting as the big spoon as she drapes her arm and leg over Max. “G’night.”

“Already?” Max raises an eyebrow and looks to the side. “We’ve barely gotten into bed-”

“-and we have to get up at like… 5AM tomorrow if you want to make it to Seattle in a timely fashion,” Chloe points out and giggles. “Come on, go to sleep.”

“Aww…” Max sighs and threads her fingers in between Chloe’s, pulling her hand closer as she tightens her hold in return. “Night, I guess…”

Chloe places her lips against her neck and blows a raspberry. “Alright, gigs up - what’s up babe?”

“I dunno, I just wanted to talk,” she whispers and shrugs. “We always talk before going to sleep.”

“Does it help?” Chloe raises an eyebrow and looks over Max momentarily. “Like… does it help you sleep?”

“Kinda,” she admits quietly and squirms when Chloe pulls her even closer, almost merging their bodies together. “Does it help you too?”

“What do you mean?”

“With your Insomnia,” she adds to lift the confusion. “I… I always hear you getting up at night and stuff, but you seem to sleep better when we have these talks.”

“Eh.” Chloe shrugs. “I guess? I’ve got pills and shit, you know that.”

“I  _ do _ know that you dork; I’m talking about this, about what we’re doing right now. I’m just saying that you sleep better when we talk ourselves to sleep.” Max brings up their intertwined hands and gives Chloe’s fingers a kiss.

“So let me get this straight,” she snorts and presses a kiss against her neck, “you’re doing this for me?”

Max blushes and shakes her head. “No-”

“You  _ totally _ are,” she continues and giggles. “Don’t worry about me, go to sleep nerd - another big day tomorrow.”

Max slips out a content sigh and nods, wiggling herself back into Chloe one more time before she falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still having trouble with PWD, CH15 will be out on MONDAY for sure.
> 
> In the meantime - TAKE MY FLUFF, longest chapter so far.
> 
> Again, thanks for all the comments and kudos - it means alot to know that people are enjoying the story!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	5. High Point

“C’mon, get up baby.”

“Mmh, go away,” she slurs and pushes the hand away from her, “Lemme sleep.”

“Get up, it’s like… 5:30, we’ve gotta go-”

“Go away,” she repeats and pushes the hand away again.

“Max get your ass up before I have to carry it,” Chloe threatens with hands on her hips, staring down at Max. “You’re already dressed, c’mon - just get into the car and you can sleep the rest of the way.”

Max groans and grabs the nearest pillow, shoving it over her head. “Go away-”

Sticking true to her word, Chloe lifts Max up with ease; her weight not even bothering her. “Fine then, guess I’ll have to carry you to the car, huh?”

Once she buries her face sufficiently enough into Chloe’s shirt, Max can’t help but grin. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“You know,” she starts as she steps down the stairs and outside into the cold, “if you wanted me to carry you to the car in the first place, you could’ve just asked.”

Max giggles, “But I like riling you up,” she says and looks up from her burrow with her grin.

Chloe rolls her eyes and sets her down on her feet, waiting until she’s standing steadily. “Get in, I’ll go grab the rest of our shit and leave a note for mom.”

Wasting no time, Max jumps into the muscle car and slams the door behind her - shivering briefly as she shakes off the cold December air. She places her head against the glass and looks behind the vehicle, watching as Chloe enters the house.

Inside, Chloe finds her duffle and Max’s camera bag resting against the couch; promptly taking both and making her way to the kitchen. As she begins to write a note on a post-it note, she hears the stairs creaking but she ignores it.

“You’re leaving this early?” David asks as he enters the kitchen, already dressed in his regular work clothes. “I knew you said morning but this is a bit early, don’t you think?”

Chloe shrugs as she finishes writing, sticking up the note on the fridge. “Max’s parents live in Seattle, that’s like a five hour drive so we wanted to be up early to spend an entire two days with them.”

David nods as he goes about making himself a coffee. “So when’s the next time the two of you will be over?” he asks as he turns around, leaning against the counter.

She shrugs again as she looks at him. “Dunno. Probably Christmas in like three weeks, but me and Max have yet to figure out how to plan for that, neither of us know whether we want to spend it together, separately with our families or together with one of them.”

Waiting a few seconds, he nods again and steps forward to pull Chloe into a hug. “You keep yourself safe Chloe, and keep that damn car running - she’s had it rough without you here.”

Chloe chuckles and pats his back before they move away. “I will. Give my love to mom, Max’s too.”

“Will do soldier,” he replies and moves back into his spot. “You get going now if you want to make in time, I’ve heard Washington has got an early bout of snow.”

“Mhm. I’ll… I’ll talk to you later maybe, call when we’re in Seattle.” Chloe smiles and gives him a wave before hoisting up her duffle and Max’s camera bag. “Bye!”

David waves her off as he follows, closing the front door behind her.

Throwing the duffle into the trunk, Chloe slams it down and jogs around the side to get inside before she falls victim to a cold.

“What took you so long?” Max asks as Chloe jumps inside. “I’ve been freezing in here.”

“Aww, is my lil baby going to turn into a Maxicle?” she teases and leans over to kiss her cheek. “Here,” she says and reaches behind the seat and exchanges the camera bag for a blanket, “I thought of everything, don’t thank me.”

“How considerate.” Max rolls her eyes and takes the blanket, unfurling it before throwing it over herself. “Much better,” she mumbles and puts her head against the window again.

The V8 bursts to life with its usual, iconic roar; one reminiscent of a lion in the early morn. Chloe yawns quietly and pulls the Camaro out of the driveway, giving her house one last glance before she drives away.

“Seattle now, then home,” she says in Max’s direction, keeping her eyes on the road. “You should call your mom, tell her you’re coming.”

Max sighs and buries herself further underneath the blanket. “Later,” she mutters and closes her eyes, “tired now, sleep.”

Chloe laughs as she turns the car onto the main thoroughfare. “Fine, you can call later.”

“Mhm,” Max hums and falls into slumber a minute later.

* * *

 

Just outside Olympia - roughly halfway to Seattle - Chloe decides its time to fill up the tank. Stopping at a service station, she goes about the usual routine whilst Max is still asleep, later purchasing two coffee’s inside; black for herself and a latte for her girlfriend.

Resting inside the vehicle, Chloe runs her finger across the rim of her cup; staring ahead as vehicles pass on their way into the service station or onto the slip road to the interstate.

“Mm, morning,” Max slurs a little as she stretches with a yawn. “We there yet?”

Chloe chuckles and shakes her head, sipping her coffee. “Just outside Olympia,” she says and hands over the other cup, “latte, for you.”

Max lets out a goofy grin as she takes the cup, “Thank you,” she whispers and leans over, placing a kiss on Chloe’s exposed cheek. “You’re sweet.”

“Mhm,” she hums in reply and looks away again, resting her head on her wrist.

“What’s up?” Max asks as she notices the slight look of concern resting on her face. “Everything good or…?”

“S’fine,” she replies and shrugs. “Just getting a bit jittery the closer we get, y’know? I guess this is what you must’ve felt like before meeting Joyce and David.”

Max giggles and reaches over to grab Chloe’s hand, smiling as she rests it down between them. “You’ll be fine,” she whispers and shuffles over to lean against her, “seriously, my parents will love you.”

“Sure about that?” Chloe keeps her eyes on the passing cars; deep in thought for a brief moment. “I’m not exactly as impressive as their daughter, photographer and all - gigs in galleries in San Fran, the whole lot.”

“Now you’re just being dumb,” Max mutters and sips her coffee. “You don’t have to be a famous photographer, some rich dude or anything else; if I’m happy, they should be happy.”

Chloe nods quietly. “Sure,” she mumbles,  _still actually unsure._

“Stop being sad,” Max pouts and looks at her girlfriend again, “you being sad makes me sad. There’s literally  _nothing_ to be afraid of.”

“I don’t know-”

“Chloe, get this into your big idiot head,” she says with more force as she jabs a finger lightly into her forehead, “You. Will. Be. Fine. Okay?”

Looking at her, Chloe sighs and nods again. “Okay.”

“Jeez, I wasn’t  _this_ nervous when meeting your family, it’s not even a big deal-”

“Max, this relationship shit is new to me okay? You’ve had a boyfriend before, you’ve had experience in this department; not me, I’ve literally had  _nobody_ before you came into my life.” Chloe looks away slightly annoyed, her finger tapping the lid of her coffee. “Doesn’t help that all I’ve done since nearly failing high school is fucking military service.”

Max decides to keep quiet, shuffling a bit away as she watches Chloe.

“Ugh,” she huffs out and steps out of the car, making a point of slamming the car door to show her discontent. As she approaches a nearby bin, she throws her half-drunk coffee inside and retrieves a cigarette instead.

Giving it a few minutes to let her calm down, Max follows as she steps out of the car and walks up to her. “Are you mad?” she asks quietly, her hands in her hoodie.

“No.” Chloe continues to look away, puffing away at her cigarette. “Just annoyed, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry,” Max mumbles and drops her head. “I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

“Not your fault baby,” she says as she shakes her head. “Just my nerves acting up, that’s all.”

Max looks over the vast coniferous forest that stretches out beyond the service station. “We can skip Seattle if you want, head home-”

“Nonsense,” Chloe says with far more enthusiasm than before - her arm immediately draping over Max’s shoulders to pull her in. “We’re going to your parents, it’s only fair that you introduce me.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, her voice still holding a hint of concern.

“Hella sure.”

She smiles and burrows her face in her surplus jacket, slurping on her latte. “You threw away your coffee, dork.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, “not that smart, am I?”

“Here,” Max whispers and offers her cup.

Chloe firmly rejects and smiles, leaning down to kiss her instead. “Don’t need it anymore, I’m wide awake.”

Max nods and stands up on her tiptoes to return the kiss. “Okay,” she murmurs softly as she drops back down onto her soles.

“C’mon now, get your cute butt into the car; we’ve still a long way to go to Seattle.”

“Woop!”

* * *

 

Around 9:13AM they’d reached Seattle. Sitting in the middle of traffic on the speedway cutting through the city, Chloe sighs and leans her head against her hand again.

“Jesus Christ,” she mumbles and looks at the extent of the pileup behind them, “don’t think I’ve ever seen traffic this huge.”

Max looks up from her phone and checks herself. “Yeah… I think the snowstorm has something to do with it,” she says and gestures to the heavy flakes of snow steadily falling outside. “Seattle hasn’t had snow like this in years.”

Chloe nods absently and looks ahead again, bringing her hand to her mouth as she thinks. “You should probably call your mom; you said you’d do it this morning, still haven’t.”

“I guess…” Max shrugs and looks at her phone again. “I’ll call her when we’re in High Point.”

“Suit yourself,” she mumbles and turns up the radio a bit to listen to the forecast. “I’d love to see you get scolded, embarrassed even - that’d be only fair, right?”

Sticking her tongue out playfully, Max giggles. “My parents aren’t as brutal as Joyce, I don’t think you’ll get lucky.”

“We'll see about that.” Chloe grins briefly and then looks back ahead at the traffic, noticing as it begins to move forward. “Sweet!”

Whilst Chloe busies herself with driving, Max slips a mini-usb into her phone and connects it to the rather modern radio installed in the vehicle. Seconds later she smiles as some of her music starts to play through the speakers.

“What's that?” Chloe asks and glances at Max briefly. “Sounds pretty cool.”

“Quiet Little Voices by We Were Promised Jetpacks,” she replies she makes herself comfortable in her seat again.

“That’s quite a mouthful,” Chloe points out as she taps her hand on the steering wheel.

Max lets out a goofy grin and giggles. “That’s what she said.”

Chloe bursts out in laughter. “Nice catch,” she congratulates and leans forward a bit, checking the upcoming signs. “Where’d you say your parents lived? High Point?”

“Yeah.”

“Fucking great,” she mutters as the long sigh escapes her lips. “Roads to High Point are closed due to snowfall, nearest diversion is like 30 minutes away; make that an hour and a half in the current conditions and traffic.”

“Are you cereal?” Max says and checks the signs herself. “Groooooooan.”

* * *

 

Driving through the suburbs, Chloe finds herself staring at some of the impressive houses they pass - the entire time she also does her best to listen to Max’s directions; missing a few turns as consequences of her split-attention.

“There!  _There!”_ Max exclaims as she shoves her hand in the direction of an upcoming street. “Chloe, turn!”

“Jesus, OKAY!” Chloe shouts back with a hint of frustration. “Okay Max! Calm down, say it once - I can hear just fine one damn inch away from my face.”

She rolls her eyes and falls back into her seat, watching as Chloe turns them into the street. “Sorry, I had to make sure you were listening this time around.”

“Right,” Chloe sighs and looks ahead. “This the street?” she asks, her voice slightly jittery; coated with a tone of nervousness.

Max giggles when she can hear the uncertainty in Chloe’s voice. “Yep, right at the end - pretty much the first house in the cul-de-sac.”

“Cul-de-sac?” Chloe repeats as she gives Max a quick look. “Are you serious? Holy shit, your parents are  _loaded.”_

Scrunching up her nose, Max shrugs. “I mean… I guess…”

“You _guess?”_ Chloe exclaims as her voice breaks from the pitch, prompting her to cough.  _“You guess?”_ she repeats, even higher than before.

“Keep your eyes on the road dork,” Max gestures Chloe to look at the road again, giggling to herself.

As she keeps her eyes on the road, Chloe can’t help but sneak glances at the upcoming house; each second causing her jaw to drop even further than before. “Jesus Christ, baby, are you  _sure_ we’re in the right neighbourhood?”

Max laughs and nods. “Yes we are you dork. Pull up on the side here, c’mon.”

Stopping where she was indicated, both Chloe and Max jump out of the vehicle and take a moment - the brunette stretching a bit whilst her girlfriend simply leans against the top of the car and stares at the Caulfield residence.

Comparing it to the Price-Madsen house would be unfair; this abode was roughly twice the size, triple the front yard, double the garage and more than likely quadruple the backyard. Chloe was, simply put,  _fucking stunned._

“Come here dorkasaurus rex,” the photographer calls out and holds up her hand - patiently waiting until her girlfriend runs around the vehicle and joins her.

“Max, baby, who the  _fuck_ did your daddy kill to get himself this mansion?” she asks as the two of them stroll down the cobbled path to the front porch.

“Oh, you know,” she shrugs, “only a couple important CEO’s and stuff, nothing major. Dad’s a professional hitman, hint,” she finishes with a whisper and a giggle.

Chloe flashes a quick grin and looks back over her shoulder. “You sure I can park my car on the curb? It’s not gonna get towed or something, right?”

“Uh… actually,  _I don’t know._ Might want to ask my dad, but I doubt he wouldn’t let you park in the driveway.”

“Cool, cool…” Chloe looks back at Max and raises an eyebrow when she spots her taking out her phone. “What’re you doing?”

“Shush,” she demands and brings a finger to Chloe’s lips, dialling a number in the meantime. Standing on her tiptoes, she kisses her girlfriend's cheek quickly and smiles. “Mom?”

Watching her quietly, Chloe shakes her head and ruffles up Max’s hair much to her dismay.

“Geddoff!” Max mutters as she pushes Chloe away playfully. “Hm? Oh, nothing mom. Listen, can you come outside a sec? I want to speak to you.”

Chloe cringes when she hears a loud scream; both muffled in the phone and the house just next to them. “Jesus,” she whispers as Max laughs and hangs up.

Moments later the front door flies open as a rather short, pixie-cut, brunette woman bursts out from behind it and takes a moment to look around.

Upon spotting her equally brunette daughter, she flashes an immediate smile. “Maxine!”

“MAX!” she corrects her in an instant. “Never Maxine.”

“Nonsense!” Vanessa waves her off and pulls her into a tight hug, rocking the two of them. “Missy, why haven’t you called me hours before you arrived? I’d have prepared something to eat-”

“-mom-”

“-you must be exhausted too, how far have you been travelling? It’s a solid four hours from here to Portland-”

_“-mom-”_

“-and just look how you’re dressed! You must be freezing in this weather-”

“MOM! Please! Let me say something!” Max pushes herself away slightly with a grumpy expression, her arms crossing almost immediately once she’s out of her mother’s reach. “Let me speak.”

Upon being separated, Vanessa finally spots the taller, well-built woman standing a few feet away; awkwardly shuffling her feet as she waits. “Max, sweetie, who’s this?”

She steps beside Chloe and takes her hand into her own, intertwining their fingers as she holds a toothy smile. “Mom, this is Chloe,” she says with as she brings up their hands as if it was a small sign of victory; pride. “Chloe’s my girlfriend.”

If there was a word that’d explain Vanessa Caulfield’s expression the moment those words hit her, it’d have to be overjoyed; ecstatic, rapturous, perhaps jubilant. Her mouth forms the biggest smile possible as she claps her hands over her mouth. Finally after a few moments that’d seemed to last an exultant eternity, she speaks  _“Maxine!_ Why haven’t I been told about this before miss?!”

Max rolled her eyes at the use of her full name, “I wanted it to be a surprise,” she says as she drops their hands back down. “So… surprise?”

Vanessa giggles as she holds her hands out towards Chloe, pulling her into a tight embrace the moment she steps forward. “Oh my goodness, you’re so tall!”

Chloe chuckles at that. “Yeah,” she says as they break apart, “I get that alot.”

Turning to her daughter again, Vanessa smiles even wider. “So how long have the two of you been together?”

“Uh, yes -  _haha -_ funny you ask,” Max coughs and looks up to Chloe briefly. “A  _few_ months… uh, maybe more like half a year, around that? Sounds about right.”

As wide as her smile was, Vanessa’s frown was equally as large when she stared at her.  _“Maxine,_ have you been  _lying_ to me?”

“Kinda,” she mumbles and presses herself closer to Chloe, flashing an awkward smile. “Uhm. I can explain later - can we come inside? We’re kinda freezing out here, snowstorm and all.

Keeping her eyes narrowed on the brunette a tad longer, she returns her smile and nods quickly. “Yes, yes, come on you two - get inside, it’s cold.”

Max wastes no time in dragging the two of them inside after Vanessa, closing the door shut and breathing a sigh of relief when the cold is no longer enveloping them.

Chloe is silent; not because she chose to, but because she’s quite in awe of the inside of the house - more so than when she’d seen the outside. “Holy shit,” she whispers as her eyes go over the various photos, portraits and impressive looking art hanging up on the walls. “Are we in the right house here?”

“Yes we are you dork, come on now - you’ve still gotta meet my dad-”

“Max!”

Letting go of her girlfriend’s hand, Max takes the last few steps forward and is promptly enveloped by the rather burly figure of Ryan Caulfield. “Dad!” she says into his shoulder as she barely reaches it on her tiptoes. “I missed you.”

“Me too pumpkin-”

“Dad,  _please,_  I’m not 13 anymore-”

“Your height proves otherwise,” he quips.

Chloe roars out in laughter, announcing her presence to Ryan. “Damn -  _haha_  - that’s good.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Ryan says as he lets go of Max, his eyebrow raised at the relatively tall woman standing in the hallway of his house. “Who are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Her laughter quickly dies down as she stares at Ryan. “Oh, uh, I’m-”

“Chloe,” Max finishes for her and takes her place beside her again. “Dad, Chloe’s my girlfriend.”

Ryan’s expression was the opposite of his wife’s only a few minutes prior. With eyes narrowed, he puts his hands on his hips as he looks over Chloe. “Girlfriend?” he asks and strokes his beard.

“Yep!” Max says as she keeps her smile.

With a sigh, Ryan drops his hands and reaches over towards a hanging baseball bat above a small plaque. “It’s a good as time as any to use this, I guess,” he says and grabs the bat, pointing it at Chloe. “You and me have to talk,  _pronto.”_

Chloe gulps rather audibly.

Max looks between the two and then rolls her head.  _“Daaad…”_

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he laughs and smiles as he puts the bat back in its treasured place. Stepping forward, he extends his hand towards Chloe. “Ryan, pleasure to meet my lovely daughters equally lovely girlfriend.”

With a silent breath of relief, Chloe shakes his hand and nearly winces when he attempts to crush it during the handshake; prompting her to reply in kind. “Pleasure,” she says as she keeps her eyes locked with Ryan’s.

“Strong grip,” he says as he lets go.

“Yeah,” she smirks, “carrying a rifle for five years will do that to you.”

Ryan raises an eyebrow. “A rifle?”

“Chloe’s ex-military, dad,” Max says with a tone of pride, “She’s only recently came back after uhm… an injury. We’ve been together before that, however, haha. Uhm.”

“Ex-military?” he asks as he glosses over the second part of his daughters sentence. “Impressive. I think I can trust you with my daughter if that’s the case.”

“Oh,” she runs her hand over the back of her neck awkwardly. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Now what are the two of you waiting for? Come on, let’s sit - Vanessa is already making coffee.”

* * *

 

Max turns to her side, restless as her eyes drift over the ceiling. She waits a few minutes in silence then turns again. She groans and sits up, looking to her side where Chloe would normally be fast asleep.

Scrunching up her nose, she sighs and looks around her room in the darkness.

It hasn’t changed since the last she was here - at least it hasn’t changed to the best of her memory. Her desk is still sat in the corner of the room, a rather impressive double-monitor setup with an equally impressive desktop tower sitting on it, there’s a large polaroid wall that spans the entire length of the wall beside the desk. Two bookshelves occupy space nearby the bed, a flat-screen TV between the two on a small coffee table - a couch placed a few feet away.

There was a whole load of other stuff too; her walk-in closet, en-suite bathroom and a large array of random crap strewn about in whatever empty space remained.

Max didn’t think she lived in luxury throughout her life, but now, looking at it all... she  _kinda_ did.

“Ugh,” she huffs out and throws the covers off herself, dropping her face into her hands as she sits on the edge of her bed. “Fuck this,” she whispers and gets up.

Shutting the door quietly behind herself, she runs across the second floor landing to the guest bedroom - AKA Chloe’s temporary bedroom, as assigned to her by Ryan; a rather strict rule imposed on the couple for their first night at the Caulfield residence,  _a test of faith_   _or something._

Once inside the other room, she shuts the door silently and tiptoes her way quickly towards the king-sized bed sitting up against the wall - Chloe’s sleeping form snoring quietly beneath the covers.

Max slips beneath the blanket and wiggles herself forward, draping an arm and leg over her sleeping girlfriend as she spoons her.

“Mm,” she hums and opens her eyes momentarily, turning her head to the side. “Max? Baby, what are you doing here?”

“Screw dads rules, I'm  _22_  for god's sake,” Max grumbles and nuzzles her face into the back of her neck. “Couldn’t sleep without you.”

Chloe rubs some sleep out of her eyes. “Dude, what the hell is your dad going to do if he finds you here?”

She shrugs. “Dunno, don’t care.”

“Well I wanna keep all my damn limbs attached to my body,” Chloe shoots over in a whisper. “Max, go back to your room-”

“No-”

“Please-”

“No, no, _no,”_ she pouts and wiggles closer. “You only came back three days ago and we’re already being separated, no bueno, no bueno.”

Stifling laughter at the sudden change of language, Chloe sighs and drops her head back down. “Fine, but you’re taking the blame if we’re found out.”

“Mhm, sure, whatevs.”

Falling silent, the two of them start to drift off to sleep again.

Just as Chloe is about to fall into some kind of slumber, Max looks over her shoulder. “Hey,” she whispers and presses a kiss to her cheek, “are you asleep?”

“No,” she mumbles in reply.

“Were you sleeping when I entered?”

_“Was.”_

“Shit, sorry,” Max apologises quickly and drops her head back into her pillow. “Didn’t want to wake you up, sorry baby.”

“S’fine,” she whispers and closes her eyes again. “G’night.”

“Mhm.”

A few minutes pass as Chloe readies herself for sleep again.

“Are you on your meds?” Max asks out of the blue, yet again disturbing her girlfriend.

_“Yes.”_

“So you’re gonna fall asleep, right?”

“Yes, _I will,”_ she whispers back with some venom; a hint of annoyance perhaps. “Except I have one pain in the ass called  _Max Caulfield_ stopping me from doing so.”

“Shit,” she mutters and kisses her neck in apology. “Sorry.”

“Go to sleep.”

As her eyelids finally feel heavy, Chloe closes them and breathes a sigh of relief.

“Baby?”

_“What.”_

“Are you… actually, ignore that,  _nevermind.”_

“Max, baby, I love you so, so much… but if you say  _one_   _more_  damn thing whilst I’m trying to fall asleep here, I’ll carry your ass to your room and lock it,” Chloe threatens in a whisper, her voice dripping with sincerity. “Okay?”

Max snores quietly in reply, for she had already fallen asleep during her girlfriend’s now empty threat.

“Ugh,” she shakes her head and brings up the small, freckled hand up to her lips to kiss it. “G’night baby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was the fluff and angst too much or what??
> 
> Kinda pulled the ending there a bit, maybe a bit too cheesy and comical on Max falling asleep during Chloe's threat but ah well - bite me. Also, Max's parents are low-key rich - this is gonna come into play later :P
> 
> PWD tomorrow, @chl03k Tuesday maybe? This'll keep getting updated daily more than likely considering these chapters take me like an hour to write.
> 
> SEEYA!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	6. Dad Talk

When Max wakes up in the early morning she immediately notices the lack of warmth beside her. Lifting her head, she looks around and spots Chloe sitting on the window sill nearby; a cigarette in her hand that she casually lifts up and takes a drag from, blowing the smoke out of the open window.

Max grumbles and shoves the blanket away from Chloe’s spot, patting it with her hand. "Bed," she slurs out loudly enough to get her attention.

Chloe laughs and stubs her cigarette out when she notices. “Morning,” she says as she approaches and slips back into her place.

The moment she lies down, Max springs forward and wraps herself around her, burrowing her face into her chest and taking a sniff - contorting her face in slight disgust when the whiff of cigarettes hits her. “Ew,” she whispers but stays there anyway, “do you have to smoke so early?”

“Sorry,” Chloe apologises with a chuckle, “just a habit, you know that.”

“Bad habit.” Max shakes her head as she sighs. “Stop smoking.”

She nods and keeps quiet as she rests her chin on her head, keeping her gaze ahead; staring at nothing.

“Dad likes you,” Max points out as she absently drifts her fingers over her girlfriends abdomen. “I think having a muscle car earned you _alot_ of brownie points.”

Chloe snickers. “You think?”

“Oh yeah,” she nods her head a bit too much, “Mhm, totally.”

“Has a funny way of showing it.” Chloe shoots a glance around the guest room.

Max sighs and presses a kiss to her collarbone. “Don’t mind this whole… test of faith thing or whatever. It’s just him messing around, seriously.”

“You think?” she repeats.

“Yeah, trust me.” Max looks at one of her tattooed arms instead, tracing the outline of her sleeve with curiosity. “You never told me what these meant,” she says quietly.

“Nothing.” Chloe smiles and kisses her head. “They mean nothing.”

“I don’t think so,” she mutters and presses a finger into her sternum playfully.

“It’s literally just a sleeve tat, I saw a design I liked and had it done.”

“I… I want a tattoo,” Max admits quietly, hearing as Chloe’s breath hitches briefly.

“You want a tattoo?” she asks to ensure she heard that quite right. _“You_ want a tattoo?”

“Hey!” Max looks up with a frown. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?"

Chloe chuckles and shrugs. “Nothing baby. Just surprised you of all people would want a tattoo.”

Max narrows her eyes and moves even further back, staring at Chloe.

She laughs and pulls her back in with ease as the brunette squirms, promptly rolling the two of them over until Chloe is looming over Max; supporting her weight on her elbows beside her head. “What kinda tattoo you want?” she asks as she rests her face inches away.

“I dunno,” Max collapses her shoulders a bit and looks at Chloe’s sleeve again. “Maybe not something _that_ big. Something small.”

“You realise it hurts, right?” Chloe asks and gestures to her arms with a flick of her chin. “These hurt for some time, itched alot.”

“I know,” she whispers and furrows her eyebrows. “That’s why I don’t want anything big, dork.”

Chloe nods and allows herself to collapse on top of her softly, resting her head beneath her chin. “You could just like… get a love heart or something on your wrist.”

“Mhm,” she hums and lifts up her forearm to look at her wrist. “I could.”

“You just want a tattoo because I’ve got them.” Chloe looks back up with a grin.

_“N-no-”_

“You totally do!” she continues and laughs. “You don’t even know what design you want, you just want a tattoo because I’ve got them.”

“Whatever you say,” Max looks away with rosy cheeks. “Totally not true.”

“Totally true!”

“Not.”

Chloe continues to laugh quietly before she’s silenced by the sound of a knock on the door.

“Chloe?” Ryan asks through the door. “Are you decent?”

She looks over her shoulder in slight panic, muttering out an incomprehensive sentence before Max slaps her shoulder and gestures her to speak like a human being. “Eh… no! I’m changing right now!”

“Oh, right,” he says and waits a few seconds. “Well, breakfast is getting ready downstairs; come down once you’re ready.”

“Sure, thanks!” she calls back out and waits, breathing a sigh of relief when she hears the footsteps fade away.

Moments later they come back. “Oh, and Max? Don’t think I don’t know you’re in there,” he says and laughs audibly, leaving afterwards.

Chloe looks at her briefly before the two of them burst into giggles. “Well, so much for a test of faith, huh?”

Max threads her fingers through her strawberry-blonde hair, nodding. “You might want to prepare yourself.”

“Why?” she asks with concern lining her voice. “I’m not like… gonna get kicked out, am I?”

“Haha, no,” Max presses a quick kiss to her hair. “But I’m pretty sure he wanted to speak to you about ‘the talk’.”

 _“The what?”_ Chloe looks up in confusion.

“Oh, you know - that thing that all dads do to their daughter’s boyfriends in all those cheesy movies?” Max reveals a toothy smile as she giggles. “The whole _don’t hurt my precious daughter_ shebang or whatever?”

 _“That’s a thing?”_ Chloe exclaims and shoots up from Max’s chest.

“Well… my dad has always talked about it. I’m also pretty sure my ex got the same treatment…”

Chloe groans and rolls to the side.

* * *

 

Having been invited to a formal dinner in a particularly expensive restaurant, Chloe found that she had not packed any clothes fit for the occasion; even after Max had told her a million times (or at least close enough to) that she’d need them in Seattle.

Now sitting on a small ottoman in a clothes shop, Chloe holds an expression of anguish as she focuses on the floor. Lost in her mind, she keeps going over the morning conversation with Ryan after breakfast - the grueling slog she’d waded through for the sake of Max; even when completely prepared she found that she was actually quite _unprepared._

“Chloe?”

She looks up and finds Max standing in front of her with a smile. “What’s up?” she asks, her mind starting to return from faraway places to the here and now.

“What about this?” Max queries and holds up a similar dress to the one she’d taken from Portland - a black, long flowing spaghetti strap garment that cut off just below the knees. “You’d look nice in this.”

Chloe shrugs. “I… I don’t want dresses. I hate dresses.”

“Oh.” Max scrunches up her face. “Why didn’t you tell me before you dork? I’ve spent like half-an-hour looking for this.”

“Sorry?” she apologises and shrugs. “How about just like… a shirt and some slacks? That’d be sufficient, right?”

Max smiles and nods, holding up her other hand until Chloe stands up and intertwines their fingers. “That’d be enough,” she says and tugs her down the aisle with a small spring in her step.

The two of them make their way across the shop multiple times, trying on an array of shirts; long-sleeved and short-sleeved, white, black, pink, burgundy and even baby blue. In the end, Chloe settles on simple white and some black dress slacks.

“So what did he talk to you about?” Max asks as they walk out of the shop and into the middle of the mall, holding hands the entire time and bumping shoulders due to their proximity.

Chloe shrugs as she’s led through the busy shopping centre. “Just the usual stuff.”

“Usual stuff?” Max asks and looks at her briefly. “Like what?”

“Like what he’d do to me if I hurt you, physically or emotionally,” she mumbles loudly enough for Max to catch it. “Said that he was happy you found someone, but he held reservations because of the fact I was in the forces.”

“What?” Max stops and looks at her. “Why?”

“Said he trusted me to an extent, but said that people like me are more prone to outbursts of violence,” she continues and drops her head in shame.

“What the hell!” Max exclaims and takes a step forward to bring Chloe’s head up with her hand. “Did he really say that?”

“Yeah.” Chloe sighs and drops her head low enough to place their foreheads together. “I would never hurt you-”

“Chloe, I know that,” Max quickly interrupts her. “I _know_ that you wouldn’t hurt me, but it’s _not okay_ for him to jump to conclusions like that; dad talk or not.”

“It’s fine, I understand his concern-”

“No, Chloe, this isn’t _fine.”_ Max sighs and closes her eyes. “He’s seriously gone overboard with this, he can’t just say stuff like that.”

Chloe stays quiet and shrugs. “S’fine, seriously.”

Max shakes her head and pulls away, tugging Chloe’s hand as they resume walking. “Let’s go grab a coffee, c’mon.”

Dragging the two of them through the crowds of people, Max passes a handful of chain coffee houses - most notably an _enormous_ Starbucks - but she continues anyway, eventually stopping the two of them outside a small cafe just outside the mall instead.

As she goes off to order their usual, Chloe sits on her lonesome and fidgets with her fingers in an attempt to keep herself distracted; keep her mind away from Ryan’s dad talk.

“Here,” Max says and slides a coffee across to Chloe, sitting herself down opposite.

She takes it and instantly takes a few sips. “Thanks,” she mumbles and looks down at the cup absently.

“I can’t believe dad would say that shit,” Max utters out in disbelief. “That is not okay.”

“Max just drop it, he’s concerned for you - that’s all.” Chloe shrugs and drinks her coffee. “There’s some truth to his statement anyway-”

“No, Chloe, _no.”_ Max sighs and drops her head onto the heel of her wrist. “I get that he’s concerned, I do, but he can’t just assume that you’ll be violent just because you were in the army. Not cool.”

Chloe doesn’t bother fighting it anymore and just lets Max continue.

“What did you tell him?” she asks and sips from her cup.

“Same thing I said to you,” she replies. “That I’d never hurt you nor cheat on you, the whole deal.”

Max giggles and lifts up her chin to rest it on her hand instead, biting her pinky as she stares at Chloe. “You’re sweet.”

“I try,” she shrugs and grins up at her. “Everything I said was hella true, I swear.”

“Oh, I know. I’m going to be extra clingy today, just giving you fair warning.” Max smirks and slurps her latte. “Tomorrow we go home and we’re lazing in the apartment all day because I’ve got work the day after.”

“Fine by me,” Chloe admits and reaches over with her hand, their fingers automatically threading between one another. “Why extra clingy today though?”

“Gotta make a point to my dad, right?” Max’s smirk grows even wider.

* * *

 

At around 8:30PM the Caulfield's and Chloe arrive at a small restaurant in Downtown Seattle. Tucked away on the corner of a particularly busy street, the establishment is rather noticeable thanks to its rather flashy entrance; something so comically grand it looks like a set of the _Grand Budapest Hotel._

“May I have your names please?”

Chloe waits and shuffles on her feet as she looks at Ryan speaking quietly to the concierge.

“Hey,” Max whispers and tugs at her arm slightly to get her attention, her hand looped around it. “You okay?”

“Mhm,” she hums in reply and smiles. “Just a bit nervous, that’s all.”

“Don’t be bothered by the grandeur of all this.” Max waves around them dismissively. “It’s not quite as stuck-up as it seems to look like.”

Vanessa shoots a glance over her shoulder and spots the two women talking quietly. “Maxine-”

“Max,” she quickly corrects her and looks towards her mother. “Yes?”

“Ah… oh, gosh, I forgot what I was going to say.” Vanessa shakes her head and smiles. “Sorry hon.”

Max giggles and nods, watching as her mother turns back around to look at the concierge still speaking to Ryan.

“So what’s the food like here?” Chloe asks quietly.

She chuckles at her and pushes her head against her arm. “It’s okay, don’t worry - you’ll get your fill.”

Just before Chloe can retort, Ryan turns around and smiles at both of them. “Come on you two,” he says and walks forward past the doors and into the large room, Vanessa beside him as her hand is looped around his arm.

_‘Don’t be bothered by the grandeur of all this.’_

Chloe does her best to keep up with Ryan as she’s quite speechless at how _immense_ the restaurant actually is inside. The entire place is coated in red, burgundy and rich oak colours; ancient looking tables and chairs everywhere in sight, some of them occupied and some of them reserved. The windows are covered in equally rich looking curtains, most of them drawn to give the occupants some privacy. At every corner stands a waiter or waitress, dressed appropriately and patient as they quite literally wait to be called up by the patrons.

“Here,” Ryan says as he approaches a large table with four chairs, reservation cards placed beside the cutlery and plates already waiting.

Vanessa and her husband sit beside one another, just like Max and Chloe sit opposite them and get comfortable.

“May I get your order sir?”

Ryan smiles and begins to relay a rather complicated list to the waiter who takes it graciously, not even bothering to make a note of it.

Max reaches under the table and grabs Chloe’s hand, giving it a squeeze to get her attention. They smile at one another briefly before Chloe resumes looking around the restaurant with curiosity.

“What do you want to drink kids?” Ryan asks as he looks over at Chloe and Max.

“Water is fine,” Max replies and looks at Chloe. “What about you?”

“Oh,” she raises her eyebrows, unsure what’d be an appropriate drink for such an establishment. “Uh… beer…?”

Ryan chuckles and nods, turning back to the waiter. “Make that two beers if you could.”

“Of course sir, is there anything else?”

“Nope, we’ll be quite fine with that order, thank you,” he finishes and turns himself back around towards the table as the waiter leaves. “So, tell me kids; how’d you _actually_ meet?”

“On a bus dad, like I said yesterday,” Max replies and rolls her eyes. “I’m serious.”

“You expect me to believe you met on a bus? Really?” he says and shakes his head with a chuckle.

“It’s true,” Chloe speaks and looks at Max briefly. “I… I was just returning from a deployment, got dropped off in San Francisco with my buddy. We uh… caught a Greyhound up north - he lived in Sacramento, I lived in Arcadia Bay so we got the same bus.”

“I was very lucky to have taken the same bus to Portland,” Max whispers and lets out a goofy grin. “Very lucky.”

Vanessa lets out a happy sigh as she leans forward, resting her chin on two hands. “That is probably to most adorable thing I’ve ever heard you say Maxine-”

“Max,” she corrects her yet again. “Also, mom, that’s _really_ awkward - can you stop?”

She scoffs and looks almost offended. “Well, _sorry_ for being happy for my own daughter,” she says.

“So you met on a Greyhound?” Ryan asks with a raised eyebrow. _“Really?”_

“Yes dad, _really.”_ Max giggles and looks across at him. “Initially I was sat next to her friend, Justin. He was… nice-”

Chloe snorts silently.

“-but a bit too forward. Plus… somebody else caught my eye,” she admits quietly. “I asked a bit about her whilst she was sleeping during the ride to Sacramento, perhaps _I_ was a bit too forward there.”

Ryan sits up as the waiter returns and places down their drinks, two beers, wine and water. “Thanks,” he mutters and smiles as the waiter leaves.

Max sighs and takes a sip from her glass, removing the lemon garnish from the rim. “I decided to switch seats after we arrived in Sacramento, struck up conversation and… stuff just kinda went from there.”

“Personally, I think she got quite lucky that buses to Arcadia were suspended due to the snowstorm,” Chloe whispers as she cups the side of her mouth.

“Oh, shush!” Max hits her under the table. “It’s not like you called after me the moment I left to go home after offering you to stay, an offer you _refused_ initially might I add.”

“Okay, Okay - I get it,” Ryan speaks and takes a sip from his beer. “So you met on a Greyhound, Max offered you a place to stay because buses weren’t running to Arcadia, yadda yadda. I believe it, just had some doubts you kids might’ve been stretching the reality.”

_“Thanks dad.”_

“Hey, I don’t mean nothing by it,” he says and throws up a hand in defence. “Anyway… Chloe, how about you tell us a bit more about yourself? We only know the bits and pieces we learned yesterday; what were you like in your teens? I understand you lived in Arcadia your entire life.”

“Yeah,” she says and sips her own beer. “Lived there since the day I was born. I mean… there’s not much to tell. I went to school, Blackwell Academy, graduated and left to join the military,” she continues, paraphrasing her entire life story.

“What about boyfriends, girlfriends? Anyone before my daughter?” he asks and looks at Max, noticing the narrowed eyes she focuses on him.

“None.” Chloe smiles and grazes her thumb over the back of Max’s hand under the table. “Nobody before Max.”

Ryan nods. “So were you always interested in the military or…?”

Chloe laughs and shakes her head. “Not at all. I… I actually was quite a punk in my teens. Grungy look, leather jacket, ripped jeans, blue hair; all of it. I fought with people alot, didn’t care for them much but I changed after some things happened.”

“Uh-huh,” he hums and looks at Vanessa briefly. “So what about your parents? You know what I do, what about your dad?”

She sips on her beer silently as Max squeezes her hand. “Uh… my _step-dad_ is a security guard.”

The silence that follows lasts a few seconds before Ryan coughs. “Uh, sorry - I shouldn’t have-”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Chloe says and takes another drink, putting her bottle down. “It’s alright. My dad died in a… car crash. I was 14 at the time, it uh… sucked, kinda broke my world for a few years. That’s why I had the whole punk phase to begin with - it was something to help me cope with his loss.”

Max scooches up closer with her chair and places their clasped hands on Chloe’s knee.

“My step-dad was combat vet who’d returned from abroad. He had it much rougher than me, he witnessed alot of bad stuff. We never saw eye-to-eye, fought constantly, I was a real bi- _nuisance_ to him. Eventually we made up, talked it out and it went from there.”

Waiting a few seconds, Ryan smiles and nods again. “Well, I think that’s enough about your past,” he says and looks at Max. “How about the future? When are you two marrying?”

Chloe nearly spits out her beer as she tries to put the bottle down without looking too flustered. “Oh, uh, uhm…”

 _“Daaad,”_ Max groans and rolls her eyes, her cheeks in flames.

“I’m kidding!” he says and laughs to himself whilst Vanessa slaps his shoulder. “But,” he stops laughing and points a finger at Chloe, “I expect to be told _beforehand._ ”

She gulps and nods, putting on her best smile. “Y-yeah, of course-”

“Dad.” Max frowns at him. “Stop.”

Ryan laughs again. “Sorry, sorry. Anyway, our order should be here soon.”

* * *

 

“Goodnight dad, mom!”

“Goodnight hon!” Vanessa calls out and disappears into their room, following Ryan.

Max smirks and pushes Chloe into her room, closing and locking the door after them. “Oh jeez,” she breathes out as she leads the two of them towards her bed.

“That was… okay,” Chloe admits as she drops onto the mattress and splays her arms out.

“Mhm,” Max hums out in reply as she falls down beside her, immediately cuddling up and nuzzling her face into her neck. “Hopefully dad won’t bother you with that crap again.”

“Eh.” Chloe shrugs and runs her hand up Max’s back. “It’s fine, really-”

“Chloe, what he said to you this morning was _not_ fine,” she interrupts her. “He can’t be making assumptions like that because of statistics or whatever; he didn’t even know you as well as he does now.”

Chloe nods and opts to stay silent.

“You’re not violent. You’re sweet, loving, caring and… everything else.” Max giggles and moves back, standing up from the bed. “Let’s get undressed and go to sleep, I’m tired.”

“So eager to get me naked?” Chloe teases and looks up from her place.

Max rolls her eyes as she slips out of her dress, promptly throwing it at Chloe’s face. “Eat it, dork.”

“Eat _what?”_ she asks and wiggles her eyebrows.

“You’re _such_ a perv!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter lined up for tomorrow, and Friday, and possibly Saturday AND Sunday! Woo!!
> 
> Stay cool y'all.
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	7. In Too Deep

“You know, I’m kinda jealous of your car.” Ryan chuckles and looks over the ‘73 Camaro parked in his driveway. “She’s a beauty.”

“Oh yeah,” Chloe replies and pats her hand on the roof as she waits with her door open. “No doubt about it, I’m lucky that me and my dad managed to find this thing.”

“You restored it, didn’t you?” he asks and runs his hand over the side.

Chloe nods. “Yeah, I did it with my step-dad. It took us a few months, near enough a year, but we made it and I got a pretty sweet ride out of it.”

Ryan laughs and takes a few steps back, putting his hands in his pockets. “It’s not for sale, is it?”

It was Chloe’s turn to laugh. “No sir,” she says and shakes her head. “I’ll make sure to give you a call if I ever want to sell her though.”

“You do that, I’d love to get my hands on a classic like this.”

Turning back towards the house, Ryan spots as Vanessa and Max step out; deep in conversation.

“-and I want you to call me more often now-”

“-sure, I’ll see what I can do-”

“-no, _Maxine-”_

_“-Max-”_

“-you will call me more often, are we understood miss?” she finishes and places her hands on her hips, looking at Max.

“Fine,” she breathes out and waits a few seconds. Throwing her hands around Vanessa, she gives her a hug. “Going to miss you mom.”

“Me too honey, you keep yourself safe, okay? Although, with Chloe, I _doubt_ you’ll be getting much trouble coming your way…”

Max laughs as she moves back from the embrace. “Probably not.”

“Come here pumpkin,” Ryan says and immediately wraps his arms around her, lifting her up in the process as she squirms.

“Dad! I’m not 13!” she exclaims before she’s put down and her hair is ruffled. “Ugh, stop it!”

“Sorry,” he mumbles out and chuckles. “Gonna miss you.”

“Me too,” she says and adjusts her camera bag strap on her shoulder. “I’ll call before Christmas at least, tell you what our arrangements will be.”

Vanessa sighs. “We _do_ want you home for Christmas hon.”

“I know, I know,” she continues and sighs herself. “But with Chloe and her family, we’ve still yet to decide how to spend Christmas. We wanna be fair to both sides, y’know?”

Ryan smiles and drapes his arm over Vanessa’s arm to pull her in. “We’ll be fine Max, don’t worry about us.”

“Ryan-”

“It’ll be fine honey, let them do their thing,” he interrupts and smiles at his wife. “Besides, Max has spent every single Christmas with us, I think she deserves to spend it elsewhere for once, no?”

Max giggles and shakes her head. “I’ll see about something, we still haven’t made plans.”

“Alright hon, you should probably get going now - you’ve a long way to Portland,” Ryan continues as he squeezes his wife.

She nods and turns around to walk over to the car, idling for a few seconds as she stands outside the open door. “I’ll miss you guys!” she calls out one last time before she gets in.

“Chloe, you look out for my daughter!” Ryan shouts over as he looks at Chloe with a smile. “Remember what I said too!”

Chloe lets out a nervous chuckle and smiles. “I will!” she replies and gives them a wave before settling into the car herself.

“Have we got everything?” Max asks as she looks at the back seats, finding their duffle and her camera bag resting beside one another. “Uh… clothes, camera, photo’s… have you got my tripod?”

“It’s in the trunk,” Chloe assures her and smiles. “Don’t worry, we’ve got all our stuff,” she continues and turns the key in the ignition, waiting for the V8 to rumble to life.

“Okay.” Max sighs and falls back into her seat, waiting until Chloe pulls out of the driveway. Turning her head to the side, the smiles when she looks at the short ponytail she’d made for her girlfriend. “That looks cute on you.”

“Huh?” she raises an eyebrow and shoots her a glance. “Oh, the ponytail thing? I mean… I guess it’s cool.”

“You look like a ninja.” Max giggles and reaches over to play with the ponytail. “Suits you.”

“A ninja, huh?” Chloe chuckles as she focuses on driving. “I guess I do.”

Max yawns and stretches. “Finally home free.”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe hums in reply and smiles. “If you’re tired then go to sleep, I’ll wake you up when we’re home.”

“You sure?” she asks quietly and settles in her seat.

Chloe reaches over and squeezes her thigh. “I’m sure nerd.”

* * *

 

 _“Cause I’m in too deep, and I’m tryin’ to keep, up above in my head, instead of goin’ under…”_ Chloe sings quietly to herself, her fingers absently tapping the steering wheel to the beat coming out of her speakers. _“Instead of goin’ under, instead of goin’ under again…”_

Next to her, Max stirs and hears her singing, her voice causing a smirk to form on her face. She turns her head to the side and giggles. “Sum 41?”

“Huh?” Chloe shoots her a glance and goes silent, feeling as her cheeks burn up briefly. “Uh… y-yeah, Sum 41.”

“Don’t let me interrupt you,” she continues with a smug expression, crossing her arms across her chest.

Chloe shakes her head and gestures to the radio, switching lanes at the same time. “Song’s ending anyway, no more lyrics.”

Max laughs and turns her head back to her window. “Whatever you say,” she mumbles and continues to giggle quietly to herself.

Wanting to move the topic swiftly on, Chloe turns the radio down a bit and focuses on the road again, angling her head towards Max. “So… what’d you think?”

“About what?” she asks with eyebrows raised.

“Just this whole week or whatever. Meeting my parents, meeting your parents; the stuff in between. What’d you think?”

Reaching over, Max takes Chloe’s hand and intertwines their fingers. “I loved it, especially going back to Arcadia.”

“Especially going back to Arcadia?” she repeats and laughs. “That place is boring, don’t see your appeal in it.”

“Chloe we’ve been over this a _MILLION_ times.” Max rolls her eyes and squeezes her hand. “I like that town. I’ve always wanted to live in a town like that, something by the seaside, away from civilisation, surrounded by huge forests all around…”

“A town like... Twin Peaks?” she asks and smirks.

“Yes,” she sighs and shakes her head, “like Twin Peaks baby.”

“Maybe one day.” Chloe presses the pedal down and switches gears quickly, overtaking an 18-wheeler. “For now I’m happy living in the city.”

Max nods and looks outside the window. “It wasn’t as awkward as I’d thought it’d be.”

Chloe shrugs and hums in reply. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she sighs, “I dunno why I was so stressed about meeting your old folks, they seemed pretty chill with me. Even with Ryan giving me the whole talk or whatever-”

“-a talk he _shouldn’t_ have given you, especially not with the stuff he said.”

“Max, I said it’s _fine-”_

“-and I said that it _isn’t,”_ she finishes and lets go of her hand, resting it on her thigh instead. “Lets just... not talk about it, okay? I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter, Chloe nods. “Let’s not talk about it,” she says under her breath. “Is there anything you wanna do today? Go out or something?” she asks in an attempt to steer the conversation away.

“No,” Max replies. “Let’s just laze about in the apartment, I don’t feel like going anywhere.”

Bobbing her head, Chloe nods. “Cool, we can do that. Watch a movie or something, anything cool out on Netflix since?”

“Not really, no.” Max brings up a finger to her lips in thought. “We could just watch something old I guess.”

_“Twin Peaks.”_

Max groans and hits her head against the glass in regret.

* * *

 

Making their way inside, the two of them stop and smile when they look around their apartment.

“Feels good to be back home,” Max whispers and closes the door behind them.

“Mhm,” Chloe hums out and hauls the duffle to the couch, dropping it just beside. “Oh god, I missed this,” she says as she throws herself down on the couch and splays out her arms.

Following her example, Max lowers herself down over her and lies down; head resting on her chest with a smile. “I could lie like this all day.”

Chloe laughs. “My boobs make a good pillow for you, huh?”

“Really good,” she replies with a giggle. “Soft and squishy.”

Allowing themselves to lie quietly for a few minutes, Chloe eventually reaches for the TV remote on the coffee table. “What do you wanna watch?” she asks as she brings up Netflix.

“Anything, don’t care.” Max lets out a content sigh and quickly panics seconds later. “Except for Twin Peaks!”

“Aww, are you serious?” Chloe pouts and looks down at her girlfriend. “Not even one episode? Pretty please?”

“Not even one episode.”

“You suck,” Chloe grumbles and resumes looking through the catalogue. “How about Scott Pilgrim?”

“Sure.” Max smiles and presses a kiss against Chloe’s chin. “Be right back, going to change into something more comfortable.”

Chloe nods and watches as she makes her way past and disappears into their bedroom. She turns on the movie and pauses it immediately, reaching down to her legs to take off her combat boots; wiggling her toes once they’re free. Socks follow soon afterwards, along with her army jacket - finally settling back down with just her tank-top and jeans.

Back from the bedroom, Max leans over the couch and falls down on top of Chloe with a giggle. “Hey,” she says as she crawls her way up to rest on her chest again.

“Hey yourself.” Chloe reaches for the remote and resumes the movie. Giving a quick glance down at her girlfriend, she smirks. “Are you wearing my sweater?”

“Yes,” she replies nonchalantly, looking at the TV. “It’s comfy, plus it’s cold.”

“Adorable nerd.” Chloe wraps her hand around Max and brings her up, her smirk growing even wider when she notices Max isn’t wearing anything but shorts underneath. “Did you forget to grab a pair of pants or something?”

Max giggles and shakes her head. “No need for pants in my own apartment,” she whispers and pecks Chloe’s nose. “Now shush, I want to watch the movie.”

Falling into silence again, the two of them cuddle and watch the movie. Occasionally Max looks up whilst Chloe is enthralled in movie with interest, taking time in admiring her girlfriend in the moment. Other times it’s Chloe’s turn to do that instead; staring down at the brunette photographer with a smile.

Gently, Max drifts up her hand beneath the tank top and runs over the bandage still present. “Does it hurt?” she asks.

“Huh?” Chloe looks down with a cocked eyebrow, not even noticing the hand beneath her shirt.

“Your wound, dork.”

“Oh. Uh, no, not really; not anymore,” she replies and shrugs. “Just a bit sore, it’s been a few weeks since I got it anyway.”

Max waits for a second and then asks “Can I see it?”

“What?” Chloe raises an eyebrow.

“Your wound. Can I… see it?”

Chloe breathes quietly for the next few moments. “Sure,” she smiles, “just get off me for a sec, I gotta take off my tank-top.”

Doing just that, Max stands to the side and watches as her girlfriend lifts up her shirt and reveals her bandaged torso. A few moments later, she carefully unwraps the fabric and reveals the slightly red, mostly healed wound on her side.

“There,” she says and holds out her hands to show off the scarred tissue.

Max bites her lip and gently pushes Chloe back down on the couch, taking up her old position afterwards. “Wowser,” she whispers as she lets her fingers drift over the skin; her head resting on Chloe’s chest again.

Chloe just looks down at her as she feels the soft fingers running up the wound. “It’s not beautiful, is it? Kinda ugly.”

She shakes her head. “Nonsense,” she says and looks up with a grin. “Chicks dig chicks with scars, right?”

“Not so sure its chicks who dig _chicks_ with scars, pretty sure it’s dudes, but sure; whatever floats your boat nerd.” Chloe giggles and looks back at the TV.

Whilst she keeps herself occupied with the movie, her girlfriend continues to look over and observe the scar instead; her fingers constantly feeling the difference in tissue, how it falls from smooth, to rough, back to smooth. She smiles and bites her lip again.

Max finds herself drifting down after a few minutes, starting to leave soft kisses over the scar. “I’m proud of you,” she whispers and looks up.

Meeting her eyes with her azure-blue, she smiles. “Oh yeah?” she asks with a cocky grin.

“Mhm.” Max leaves another bundle of kisses over the scar, crawling back up seconds later. “You’re brave for doing what you did for years, I’ve never told you that.”

Chloe smiles and just looks away at the TV again. “Feels nice to have somebody appreciate what I did,” she admits quietly.

With a trail of kisses up her neck, Max smiles when she meets her lips. “I’m sure there’s others who appreciate your service, but this girl right here,” she points to herself, “extra appreciates it. Especially the fact that you came back like you promised.”

They kiss briefly; just a simple peck. After a few seconds, they do so again - longer, more passionate. Then again, and again and again. Sure enough, a few minutes later Max finds herself trailing down Chloe’s chest; between her breasts and along her defined abdomen.

Giving her more room to work with, Chloe adjusts in her place and throws her hands behind her head; watching as Max continues even further and perks up her behind as a result - giggling the moment she spots Chloe’s smirk. “Enjoying this?” she asks quietly.

“Very much so,” Chloe replies and continues to look down as Max begins to unbutton her jeans. Lifting herself up a bit, she watches as her girlfriend tugs the trousers down her legs until they come off and land beside the couch. “What are ya gonna do to me, huh?”

Now kissing her way across her thigh, Max giggles. “You’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most chapters from now on will be time-skipped, a few days at most for now because I have stuff planned :P
> 
> Hope ya enjoyed, the next chapter is released tomorrow! :D
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	8. I Cannot Sleep at Night

Idling on the curb, Chloe sits patiently in her car - bobbing her head occasionally to the beat of the music coming out of her speakers. With a glance to the side, she notices the late-afternoon traffic of central Portland; car after car mixed with taxi’s, buses, trucks - all of them waiting for the traffic lights to turn green at intersections.

_ “I’ll be the switch she turns on, she’ll be mine to I get on, I’ll be the fuse that she blows, and even with the lights off we’ll glo-o-o-o-o-ow…”  _ she sings under her nose, tapping her hand against the steering wheel along with the catchy beat.

As she distracts herself with music for the next few minutes, she ensures to constantly look to the side towards the high-rise building she’s parked next to; eyes constantly gazing towards the double doors that lead inside. With each glance, she sighs when she doesn’t see Max emerge.

“C’mon, where are you nerd?” she whispers to herself as she looks at the entrance again, flicking up her wrist to check the time. “Fifteen minutes late, jesus.”

Max finally steps outside as if on cue, her hand clutching her camera bag whilst her other holds up a folder pressed up to her chest. With an annoyed expression, she huffs out and slumps her shoulders as she looks around. The moment she spots Chloe’s car, her face turns into a beaming smile as she skips her way over.

“Heya,” she says as she jumps into the car and slams the door shut.  She leans over and plants a kiss on Chloe’s lips with a giggle. “Sorry for being late, ugh.”

“What happened?” Chloe asks as she spends no time in starting the car and merging into the traffic.

She shrugs and drops her camera bag between her legs. “Nothing, just… somebody held me up for a bit longer, that’s all.”

“Somebody?” Chloe inquires with a raised eyebrow and a sideways glance. “Anybody who needs their jaw dislocated?”

“Oh, god  _ no!” _ she quickly shakes her head in horror. “Just… somebody, don’t worry about it.”

“Alright,” Chloe mumbles and looks back at the road. “How was your day anyway?”

“Fine,” she replies and looks down at the folder on her lap. “I’ve got a _ ton _ of work though, ugh.”

Chloe laughs as she presses down the pedal, moving up slowly in the traffic. “What about?”

Max opens up the folder and peers over the contents, scrunching up her nose. “Just some crap about the rising night-life scene in the city,” she mutters and reads over some of the material, “looks like I’ll have to be heading out to some clubs to take pictures, conduct interviews…”

“Oh?” Chloe turns her head towards Max.

_ “Yes, _ that means you can be my faithful bodyguard and chaperone,” she says and rolls her eyes with a giggle. "My hot girlfriend too if ya want..."

“Score!” Chloe smirks as she pumps her fist in victory. “We’ll be going to the  _ gayest _ clubs-”

“-and all the others too,” Max quickly adds with a giggle. “I have to get a broad range of answers baby.”

“Pffft,” she scoffs and waits for the light to turn green.

“What about your day?” Max asks and looks at her with a smile. “Did you find anything interesting?”

Chloe sighs and shakes her head. “Nope,” she says as she looks ahead, “turns out nobody is interested in hiring combat vets, who'd have thought, huh?”

Max holds a saddened expression for a few seconds as she looks at her slightly dejected girlfriend. “Hey,” she whispers and takes her hand into her own, giving it a squeeze, “you’ll find something, don’t worry.”

“Mhm,” Chloe hums in reply and kicks the car forward again.

Spending the next few minutes in silence, the couple keep their hands clasped as they drive through the city. Chloe shoots a glance at the radio when she hears a familiar song, letting go of Max momentarily to turn it up and listen to it with a smile.

_ “All your anger all your hurt, doesn’t matter in the end, those days go by, and we all start again,” _ she sings quietly as they once again stop in the middle of traffic. _ “What you’ve had what you’ve lost, they’re all memories in the wind, those day go by, and we all start again.” _

Max smiles to herself and thinks for a few seconds. “Chloe?” she asks and turns her head.

“W’sup baby?” Chloe says in her general direction as she stares at the road.

“What about… singing?”

Chloe hums for a few seconds and then stops. “What?”

“What about singing?” she repeats her question and looks at her girlfriend. “Like… maybe in a band, or standalone?”

“Uh.” Chloe looks away in thought briefly. “I-I don’t know…”

“Come on, you’ve got the voice for it,” Max admits with a smile. “You could do small gigs in bars or whatever.”

“Max, I’m not  _ that _ good.”

“Nonsense,” she shakes her head and squeezes her hand. “Chloe, you’ve got an amazing voice.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m your girlfriend,” Chloe mumbles as she steers the vehicle.

“No, Chloe, not just because you’re my girlfriend - I’m saying it because you  _ have _ got an amazing voice.” Max smiles and leans over to kiss her cheek whilst they’re stopped. “Seriously.”

“You really think so?” she asks quietly; unsure of herself.

“I  _ really _ think so.”

Chloe nods and focuses on the road, letting herself sink into her thoughts for the next few minutes.

“Well?” Max asks once they start making significant progress through the city; the traffic having mostly cleared up.

“I don’t know,” she replies and shrugs. “Maybe. I’ll… I’ll think about it, how about that?”

“Sure,” Max replies and reveals a wide smile. Looking away for a few moments, she gasps and smacks her palm against her forehead. “Oh jeez, I almost forgot.”

“What?”

“Juliet wants to host a small Christmas break party thing in the office on the 21st,” she says and looks at Chloe, “do you want to go? She asked me to come and frankly I don’t want to be there alone.”

Chloe smirks and nods. “Of course I’ll go if you want me to.”

“Thank you,” she whispers and leans over to kiss her cheek again. “It won’t be anything wild, just a small gathering with drinks and food.”

“Fine by me.” Chloe shrugs and switches gears as the car picks up speed. “Are we heading straight home or do you need to go anywhere?”

“Ugh, I forgot again,” she grumbles and drops her head into her hands. “Groceries.”

“How about we just get a takeaway?” Chloe suggests and smiles at her sideways. “We can get groceries tomorrow or something.”

“Lets... let’s just do that.”

* * *

Sitting together on the couch, Max and Chloe indulge themselves in the culinary delights they’d acquired on the street corner opposite their apartment; a small Chinese takeaway joint that serves cheap yet quite fulfilling meals. Funnily enough, Chloe was actually recognised by the rather humble owner of the place; happily giving the couple a discount for they were one of his favourite customers (and also his most frequent).

Deciding on watching a few episodes of Sons of Anarchy, the two of them fill most of the time with back and forth banter about random everyday things; news, weather, world events, music - and as such, they miss roughly two and a half episodes completely, losing the plot entirely by the time they decide to actually focus on the TV.

Wearing Chloe’s oversized sweater again, Max sighs and opts to straddle her girlfriend instead, quickly locking her arms behind her neck.

“Woah,” she whispers as she looks at the close proximity of the brunette’s face. “What’s this about?”

“Nothing,” she whispers and nuzzles herself against her cheek. “Just don’t feel like watching anything but you.”

Chloe laughs quietly. “Alright,” she replies and wraps her hands around her. “So you just wanna cuddle?”

“Yep.”

“C’mere then.” Chloe smiles as she allows herself to drop to the side, settling them both on the couch in their embrace.

Brushing a few stray hairs out of her face, Max thumbs over Chloe’s cheek with a goofy grin. “I like you.”

She laughs again and gives her a squeeze in return. “Yeah, I like you too nerd.”

“You know… we haven’t really talked about this whole… Christmas deal,” Max mutters under her breath as she looks over Chloe’s face.

“Yeah, we haven’t,” she admits and sighs. “What do you think we should do?”

Max shrugs. “I really don’t know. I kinda want to spend Christmas with my parents but… I’ve spent every single Christmas with them since I was a kid - maybe I should go somewhere else for once.”

Chloe nods and swiftly presses a kiss against her forehead. “So do you want to spend it together? Just the two of us…?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she shrugs again and scrapes her nails against her girlfriend’s scalp gently. “How about we spend it with Joyce and David?”

“Eh…” Chloe shrugs herself. “I don’t know. You think they’d like that?”

“I’d think so, yeah.” Max scooches up closer and burrows her nose into Chloe’s cheek, closing her eyes. “It’d be something different for me, you and them too. I mean… maybe it’s too early to do that? I really don’t know, I’m kinda lost here myself.”

“We should just spend it together,” Chloe admits quietly as she threads her fingers through the mousy brown hair. “It’s our first real holiday so I think we should take it slow, like we did with the parents thing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There’s no need to rush the whole family holiday thing or whatever. I think both our parents will understand that we want to spend it alone, y’know?” Chloe smiles as she leaves soft kisses over Max’s eyelids, the brunette giggling at the sensation.

“I guess.” Max releases a soft sigh as she wraps her hands around Chloe’s waist. “I do kinda want to spend it together aswell I guess. I just… don’t know how to do the whole Christmas thing though.”

“We’ll wing it.” Chloe chuckles and looks beyond Max at the windows. “It’s snowing again.”

“Cereal?” she asks and turns her head to the side to glance at the windows herself. “Here’s hoping it’ll snow us in so I don’t have to go to work.”

Chloe laughs and pulls her back in to press a kiss against her forehead. “Is work _ really  _ that bad?”

“No, not really; I’m just exaggerating it I guess…” she whispers and sighs. “There’s just… nevermind.”

With a raised eyebrow, Chloe looks over Max’s slightly conflicted expression. “There’s what?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Baby, tell me.” Chloe kisses her forehead a few more times again. “C’mon, spill.”

“F-fine. Don’t be mad though, okay?” Max gulps silently and opens her eyes to be met with Chloe’s immediate concerned expression. “Don’t be mad, okay?” she repeats.

“I’d never be mad at you, what’s up?” Chloe asks and moves a few inches away to get a better look of her girlfriend.

“Well… I haven’t told you about this at all through our letters and video chats and whatever because it wasn’t that bad at the  _ time…” _ she whispers and sighs. “There’s just this… one guy that works in the same building as me, names Wyatt or something, and he’s kinda been hitting on me for a few months.  _ Kinda.” _

Chloe tenses up.  _ “What?” _

“Listen, it’s not that bad okay? He’s just been making flirty comments and stuff, but lately he’s just been pushy and it’s kinda been making me uncomfortable, that’s all.” Max turns her head to the side and looks up at the ceiling. “You’re not like… mad or anything, are you?”

She sighs and shakes her head. “I’m not mad at you, no,” she whispers and kisses her cheek. “I’m mad at this  _ asshole _ who thinks he can take my girl.”

“Chloe, don’t do anything stupid,” Max quickly says and looks at her.  _ “Please _ don’t do anything stupid, this is literally nothing.”

“Max, he’s making you uncomfortable; you’ve said that yourself,” she points out and sits up slightly, leaning on her elbow. “Have you told him to stop?”

“Yeah.” Max fidgets with her fingers momentarily. “I told him months ago that I’m in a relationship but he didn’t stop.”

Chloe breathes out slowly, audibly, as she thinks over the situation. “Is that why you were late today?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Max drops her head as if she’s trying to cover up some kind of shame. “He cornered me in one of the lifts-”

_ “Cornered you?” _ Chloe immediately exclaims; venom quite clearly coating her voice of anger.  _ “Cornered you?” _ she repeats more slowly this time.

“Chloe-”

“What’s his name? Wyatt?” Chloe speaks over Max as she looks at her.

“...yes.”

“I’m picking you up from the office directly tomorrow.” Chloe lifts herself up and over Max, standing up. “If I so much as _see_ this _prick_ then I’m _talking_ to him-”

_ “-Chloe-” _

“No, Max, baby… I’m  _ not _ allowing you to feel uncomfortable because some asshole thinks he can hit on you.” Chloe turns around with hands on her hips. “Does anybody else know about this? Juliet, Warren, Kate?”

“Nobody,” Max admits quietly as she sits up and drops her head. “It’s not that big of a deal-”

“Wrong, this is a  _ hella _ big deal.” Chloe turns back around and sighs, her fingers running through her hair and tugging at the short ponytail at the back.

Max sighs and crosses her arms, absently looking at her legs. “You’re mad,” she points out the obvious in a whisper.

“I’m hella mad,” Chloe replies in quite a calm manner; masking her anger well. “Not at you though, I already said that.”

When an uncomfortable silence follows their exchange, neither of the women move; both of them lost in their thoughts. Chloe already devising a way of getting this _Wyatt_ sorted immediately, Max instead feeling slightly ashamed for not standing up for herself a bit more firmly; ashamed of having to fall back on her girlfriend for help.

Chloe turns on her heel and reaches down to Max with her hands. “Come,” she says and waits until two hands touch her own - immediately pulling up the brunette against her chest. “I won’t be violent, okay? I’ll just… talk it out, tell him that you’re not interested and that’s you’re uncomfortable.”

“Promise?” she asks, her voice muffled as her face is pressed against Chloe’s shirt.

“Promise.”

* * *

Lying wide awake, Chloe stares above Max’s chestnut hair towards the night table; focusing on the picture frame containing a selfie of the two of them in Portland a number of months back. She smiles and presses a soft kiss to her girlfriend’s head as she snores quietly. 

Minutes pass as she attempts to sleep; she goes through everything - adjusting her position, pressing herself against Max, forcing her eyes shut, burying her face in her pillow… nothing works. Nothing ever works in moments like these - not the medications, not the small things. It’s impossible for her to fall asleep once she hits that state.

With a sigh, she kisses Max’s hair again and shuffles away, slipping out from beneath the covers and looking down at her. She smiles and turns, leaving the bedroom quietly as she grabs her pack of cigarettes and lighter on the way.

Across the living room in seconds, she sits herself down on her usual spot - the window sill of their largest window, her ashtray already resting on the surface and waiting for her. With the window open, she lets in the cold December air; it sends a chill down her spine, causes goosebumps on her skin, but she endures and ignores it as usual.

Sparking her cigarette, she takes a drag and blows the smoke to the side, listening, watching the city below and around her. Sirens, cars, shouts, screams, laughter, talk; it’s a mix of everything, definitely different from the usual quiet of Arcadia that she’d had grown used to for most of her life. Nearby the apartment a neon sign constantly flickers, casting a pinkish neon glow in the room filled with darkness, illuminating the furniture and the walls each time.

She sighs and blows away some more smoke, resting her head against the wall; her thoughts let free, allowed to wonder.

There is one topic that occupies her mind the most; Max and her uncomfortably forward admirer, Wyatt. Chloe frowns as she thinks over her conversation hours before, her expression turning to a scowl when she realises that Max had legitimately felt uncomfortable by his advances. She’d be fine if they were one off comments, perhaps ice-breakers or something along those lines; but constantly flirting, almost harassing her - _ cornering her? _

That shit didn’t fly in Chloe’s books -  _ not at all. _

Violence _was_ her immediate answer - rough him up, teach him a lesson, make him lose a few teeth.  _ That’d do the trick _ , she thought. But then she knew that there’d probably be assault charges, the involvement of law enforcement, probably court and some kind of sentence; perhaps just a fine if she was lucky. Max wouldn’t want that.

So Chloe had to resort to  _ talking  _ to him. She  _ hated _ talking; despite her looks, her outgoing nature, Chloe Price was _ not _ a social savant - she wasn’t adept at solving her problems with words. But she’d do it; she’d do it for Max because she  _ promised, _ and Chloe  _ kept  _ her promises.

“Baby?”

Chloe turns her head to the side to see her girlfriend approaching, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

“You okay?” she asks as she takes the last few steps and kisses her cheek. “Can’t sleep?”

“Mhm,” Chloe hums in reply and puffs on her cigarette. “Just having one of my episodes, don’t worry about it.”

Max nods and sits herself opposite, mirroring Chloe’s position on the window sill. With her hand extended, she takes Chloe’s and gives it a squeeze, holding it between the two of them. “I’ll stay up with you.”

Chloe opens her mouth, _ No, go back to sleep, _ is the first thing she wants to say, but she doesn’t. “Okay,” she whispers instead because she knows Max won’t go back to sleep until  _ she _ goes back to sleep;  _ she never does. _

Giving her a smile in return, Max gazes out the window at the far-away Portland skyline. “I’ve never noticed it looks so nice in the night.”

“Yeah.” Chloe looks herself. “Makes you feel somewhat insignificant in the larger picture, I s’pose.”

Max giggles and shivers. “You’re always so  _ deep _ when you can’t sleep.”

“Jerk,” she replies and playfully kicks her thigh. “It gives me time to think, that’s all.”

“Well what are you thinking about?” Max asks and shivers again. “Jeez, it’s actually kinda cold-”

“Go get a sweater or something,” Chloe demands and jabs her hand out towards their bedroom. “Stat.”

“I’m  _ fine-” _

“Go get something warm, jerk,” she repeats and waits.

Max rolls her eyes, “Fine,” she mumbles out and quickly tiptoes her way across the apartment, disappearing moments later behind the door to their bedroom.

Chloe looks out the window as she smokes her cigarette, dropping some ash into her tray and taking another drag.

“Happy?” Max asks as she returns, yet again wearing Chloe’s oversized sweater - the collar pulled all the way up her neck so that it nearly covers her cheeks.

“Just looking out for you,” Chloe whispers as she watches her sit back down. “Don’t want you catching a cold.”

“How sweet,” she replies and giggles. “What do you think about when you sit here and smoke?” she asks, curiosity taking hold of her voice.

“Things,” Chloe replies and shrugs. “Pretty much everything. Sometimes I think over things I’ve done when I was a teenager, sometimes stuff I did whilst in the service. Nowadays I tend to think about you and me.”

Max hides her blush beneath the fabric as she displays her goofy smile instead. “You’re actually  _ really _ sweet, jeez, make me blush more why don’t you?”

She laughs and tokes on her cigarette briefly, exhaling the smoke out of the open window. “I can think of other ways of making you blush; the bedroom comes to mind.”

“Perv!” she exclaims and kicks her shin as she giggles.

Chloe slips out a content sigh and looks back out of the window. “Ugh,” she huffs out and throws her cigarette into the ashtray, “I’m gonna for a walk, try and get tired or something.

“I’ll go with you,” Max immediately replies and gets right up behind Chloe.

“Stay, you’ve got work tomorrow-”

“Don’t care,” she says and presses herself into her back, shoving her forward with a giggle. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Fine, but don’t say that I didn’t try and stop you.”

* * *

At around 2:33AM they reach their neighbourhood park; a rather modest sized piece of land only a few blocks from their apartment. Situated on a hill, they’re treated to a rather breathtaking view of Portland and it’s skyline in the midnight sky.

“I’ve never been here at night,” Max says as she adjusts her scarf over her mouth. “It looks beautiful.”

Chloe nods as she walks beside her, holding her close (or as close as possible considering they’re both wearing at least three layers of clothes). “It’s cool,” she agrees quietly and looks down at the brunette with a smile as she moves away momentarily.

Max is already lifting up her camera and snapping pictures of the view, grinning the entire time. “These will be nice to have hung up somewhere,” she says in Chloe’s direction as she continues taking photos.

Waiting for her to finish, Chloe stands with her hands in her pockets and looks around at the fresh layer of snow covering everything. She thinks for a second but then decides  _ not _ to start a snowball fight in the middle of the night.

“Okay,” Max says and drops her camera back down on her chest. “I’ve got some pictures.”

With their hands immediately together again, they set back down the path.

“Do you think we’ll last?” Chloe asks out of the blue after a few minutes.

Max stops immediately as if a brick wall hit her in the face. “What?” she asks quietly and looks at her girlfriend.

Chloe doesn’t meet her gaze, opting to instead look at the skyline beside them instead. “Do you think we’ll last?”

Flapping her mouth uselessly, Max finds herself at a loss for words. “W-what, why… Chloe, why would you ask that?” she finally says after a few more seconds. “Why?”

“I’m just… wondering,” she admits and shrugs. “This is my first relationship, I… I don’t know whether I’m taking things too fast, too slow or whatever. When I said before that I was thinking about you and me, I was just… wondering whether all of this will last, or whether we’ll just fizzle out after a few months. I’m lost.”

“Chloe,” Max says and steps in front of her, waiting until she looks down. “Are you happy?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Me too.” Max wraps her arms around her and burrows her face into her jacket. “Don’t... don’t ask things like that, okay? We’ve been together for months baby,  _ months. _ You went to serve abroad, I never  _ once _ forgot you; we wrote letters, communicated the entire time. Chloe, do you think we would’ve done that if we weren’t going to last?”

“No,” she admits. “This is… -  _ shit _ \- just forget this, okay? I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m just being hella paranoid, that’s all. My Insomnia is making me freak out, just… just ignore me.”

Max shakes her head against her chest. “No, you’re just worried. Well I’m worried too, okay? It’s normal in relationships. But... I’m also  _ confident _ that we’ll last for a long time. I’m thinking life, what about you?”

Chloe smiles and noses herself into her hair. “I’m confident about that too,” she whispers.

“Then it’s settled - we’ll last.” Max grabs her hand again and reveals her smile beneath her scarf. “C’mon, we’ve still got an entire park to walk through.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst angst angst and fluff fluff fluff
> 
> WHAT A RECIPE!!  
> HOPE YOU ENJOYED! THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS AND KUDOS AS USUAL!!
> 
> Tomorrow I might release two chapters of @chl03k instead, leave the next chapter of this for Sunday - we'll see...
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	9. Lay Off, Buddy

Hands in her pockets, Chloe stands patiently beside the set of elevators on the 9th floor of the high-rise she’d been outside of only yesterday. Tapping her foot, she waits and looks around; a few familiar faces pass, some of them giving her a smile that she promptly returns along with a flick of her chin.

Holding her wrist up, she checks the time - Chloe is 5 minutes early.

“Woah, Chloe, what are you doing here?”

Glancing to the side, she grins. “Warren!” she calls out and immediately slaps palms with him, ending with a fistbump.

Standing a foot taller than her, he smiles as he clutches some papers in one hand. “Haven’t seen you in months, what's good with you?”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” she replies and shrugs. “Just waiting for Max.”

Warren forms an ‘o’ with his mouth and then chuckles. “Should’ve figured, haha. How are you… uh… holding up after everything? Max was kinda broken up when you got injured.”

“I know,” she sighs and slumps her shoulders. “I’m fine though, everything’s healed and I’m as good as new. Thanks for taking care of her by the way, you, Juliet and Kate. Seriously, you guys have been a huge help in alleviating my worries.”

“Don’t mention it, Max is our friend,” he waves her off briefly. “She’s been a complete workaholic since you’ve been back, bossing everyone around and consuming caffeine like crazy - it’s real nice to see her like that again. How’s stuff on the homefront by the way? Max mentioned that you’re not enlisted anymore.”

“Yeah,” she nods and drops her gaze to the floor. “We kinda agreed that this would be my last deployment. I… I got honourably discharged anyway because of my injury, got a medal and got sent off home.”

“A medal, huh?” he raises and eyebrow and chuckles. “Look at you, a hero and everything.”

“Yeah… thanks.” Chloe flashes a weak smile and looks back up. “I’m out of a job right now, just looking around right now, y’know? Not a lot of luck though.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something,” he says and bobs his head. “Anyway, I gotta split - still have work for another hour.”

“Yeah, yeah - keep safe and all that. I’ll see you soon probably, dunno,” she shrugs and gives him another fistbump.

“Mhm, I’ll talk to you soon I guess,” he replies and gives a smile, promptly turning back down the corridor and walking away.

Chloe watches as he goes over his papers as he walks, stopping a few feet short of his cubicle when a short brunette comes around the corner and starts talking to him. The two exchange a few quick words before the woman shuffles past him and flashes a huge smile in the direction of Chloe.

“Hi!” she says as she approaches, throwing her arms around her girlfriend. “Guess you weren’t kidding when you said you’d pick me up directly, huh?”

“No sir,” Chloe replies and drapes her arm over her shoulder.

Max giggles and leads them over to one of the elevators. “Here’s hoping you’ll do the trick…”

“Oh, I’ll do the trick alright.” Chloe scoffs and looks around them whilst the lift makes its way up. “This whole ‘Wyatt’ character won’t be bothering you after today.”

She nods quietly. “I’m sure he won’t,” she whispers and looks up at the dog tags around Chloe’s neck. “Did you wear these just for the extra intimidation effect?”

Chloe laughs. “I might’ve,” she admits with a shrug. “Figured he’d take me seriously if he saw I was ex-military.”

“I think he’d take you seriously regardless,” she muses and looks over her rather well-defined arms.

With a chuckle, Chloe presses her lips to her temple and squeezes her. “Probably, but it doesn’t hurt to add the extra effort - especially for you.”

Rolling her eyes, Max knocks her head against her girlfriends and looks up at the small display above the elevator doors.

Seconds later the quiet  _ ding _ rings out as the doors slide open, revealing the empty elevator. Quickly they make their way inside as Max presses the button for the ground floor on the way in. Once the doors close again, she leans back against Chloe who in turn leans against the handlebars installed all around.

Max looks at the passing floors with some concern; still rather worried about whether or not Chloe will be violent or not. She’d _prefer_ her not to be, but in reality… she _really_ _wouldn’t mind_ if her girlfriend taught her rather ardent admirer a thing or two.

“What floor?” Chloe asks as she looks up at the small digital display herself.

“7th,” she replies and clutches her camera bag with one hand.

When the display flashes  **‘7’** , the lift stops and the doors slowly open.

“Hullo, Hullo Ma-”

Chloe glances at the slightly taller male that enters the lift and stops the moment he notices Max leaning against her. His hair dark brown, slicked back, he sports a beard and a rather smart looking suit - thick rimmed glasses to boot.

Wyatt awkwardly coughs and steps inside, putting his hands in his pockets after he presses the ground floor button.

Max holds a smug grin the entire the elevator makes its way down, floor by floor, each passing second a secret enjoyment for the brunette as she glances at Wyatt awkwardly fumbling around and shifting in his place.  _ Not so forward now, dick, _ she thinks and stifles a giggle. With a look over her shoulder, she spots Chloe staring daggers into the back of Wyatt’s head; her eyes not once leaving their intended target. Max flashes another incredibly smug, proud, smile and looks back ahead.

As the elevator approaches the number  **‘2’** on the display, Chloe leans down and places her mouth next to Max’s ear. “Go ahead, I’ll talk to him,” she whispers just loudly enough for Max to hear.

She nods and clutches her camera bag again, widening her ever-so-smug smirk. “Okay,” she replies equally quietly.

_ Ding. _

Out of the elevator in seconds, Max shoots a glance over her shoulder and manages to sneak a peek of Chloe blocking Wyatt’s way with her arm. She giggles and makes her way out of the building and into the parked car already waiting.

“Alright, listen up,” Chloe begins as she turns around and faces the somewhat worried looking Wyatt. “I’m going to make this short and real fuckin’ sweet, okay?”

Wyatt raises both his eyebrows as he backs up. “What’s this about?” he asks.

“I think you have a very good fucking idea.” Chloe crosses her arms and displays her rather impressive, tattooed muscles. “Lay the fuck off Max, you hear me buddy?”

_ “What?” _

“I don’t have a lot of patience, combat will do that to you,” she says and ensures her dog tags are in full display on her chest. “So I’m going to give you one warning; _ lay the fuck off my girlfriend, _ you hear me?”

Wyatt keeps quiet as he looks over Chloe briefly.

“If I hear so much as one more complaint -  _ one _ \- from her about  _ you, _ I’ll find you and I’ll make  _ sure  _ you’ll be collecting your goddamn teeth for the next year -  _ are we understood?”  _ Chloe keeps a blank expression the entire time, her arms still crossed.

Wyatt, although quite intimidated in truth, doesn’t display it. “Sure,” he replies and shrugs.

Chloe drops her arms and curls her hands up into fists. “No, not  _ ‘sure’,  _ are we fucking  _ understood _ or will I have to show you that I’m not fucking about?”

He nods again. “We’re understood. I… I won’t bother her again, sorry.”

Somewhat satisfied, she takes a step forward and grasps his collar whilst the elevator doors are still closed. With a push, she pins him up against the side. “We fucking better be,” she mutters into his face with a dangerous look. “You made her feel uncomfortable, she even told you that; you think it’s alright to continue your shit after she said that? Huh?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so,” she finishes and let's go, taking a step back to press a button on the elevator console again. With a quiet  _ hiss _ , the doors open and she shoots one more glance at Wyatt before she makes her way out.

Shoving her hands into her pockets, she saunters through the lobby of the building with a smirk; confident that she’d made her point. Outside, she breathes in the cold air and quickly makes her way over to her parked car.

“Hey,” she says as she enters and slams the door. “He won’t be bothering you again,” she mumbles and turns the key in the ignition, merging with the traffic immediately.

Max looks at her for a few seconds. “Did you… hit him?”

“No,” she replies. “Just had some words with him, that’s all.”

Slightly disappointed, Max doesn’t show it as she smiles and leans over to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispers and gives her cheek another kiss immediately afterwards.

Chloe nods and places on hand on the clutch, tapping her fingers against it. “I had the urge to knock out his fucking teeth right then and there though,” she admits and shakes her head. “Fucking prick.”

Placing her hand over hers on the clutch, Max gives it a squeeze. “Let’s go home.”

“Groceries first,” Chloe reminds her with a chuckle.

Max rolls her head and rests it against the window. “Goddamnit.”

* * *

“I’m in lesbians with you.”

Max laughs as she throws her head back into Chloe’s chest. “Go away, I’m making dinner.”

“Nope,” she replies as she keeps her hands around her waist, her body pressed against her back. “No can do.”

“Away with you, woosh!” she says as she pushes her hips back to shove her girlfriend away.

“Woah, if you want it that bad…” Chloe grins and winks, her hand immediately groping her ass in return.

“You are  _ impossible,” _ she whispers and gives up, leaning backwards instead.

“Come with me if you want to  _ bone.” _ Chloe giggles and starts to pull her backwards.

“Chloe!” she exclaims as the pans move out of her reach. “Let me go!”

“Nu-uh,” Chloe shakes her head, “I’m requisitioning you for now.”

“You’re going to make me screw up food,” she pouts as she continues to be pulled back out of the kitchen. “Chloe, stop!”

Chloe shakes her head again. “No-.” she breaks up and screams when she doesn’t anticipate the couch behind her; falling back over it with Max.

Laughing wildly as she lands on her chest, Max turns her head up and to the side to look up at her girlfriend. “You deserved that you dick,” she mutters and grins.

“Probably,” she admits and drops her head off the edge, looking at their room upside down. “Woah, this is trippy.”

“Dork.” Max sighs and rolls off her, quickly standing up from the couch. “Now don’t interrupt me again or you won’t be eating.”

“Yes ma’am,” she salutes and quickly smacks her ass the moment she turns around. “Score!”

Max simply rolls her eyes as she makes her way back to the kitchen.

Sitting up correctly, Chloe throws her hands back onto the back of the couch and crosses her legs, absently watching the TV. In the background she hears Max humming to herself as she works the pans, making food for the two of them; a part of her feels somewhat guilty for allowing her to do that considering Chloe is the unemployed one right now - perhaps it should’ve been her. _ Actually no, _ she thinks, _ It should’ve been me. Goddamnit. _

Chloe stands up and heads over to her jacket nearby the door, taking out her packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Walking over to her usual spot, she opens up the window and sits down on the sill; taking a drag of her cigarette the moment it’s lit up.

“Chlobear?” Max calls out from the kitchen over her shoulder.

“What’s up?” she calls back as she looks outside at the street below.

“Do you want to head over to a club or something today? I’ve got to get started on my article, might as well do some today.” Max turns around and spots Chloe near the window. “You okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, yeah, just having a smoke.” Chloe glances towards her and smiles. “We can go to a club if you want, I’m up for it.”

Max returns her warm smile and gives her a dorky thumbs up. “Cool!”

Shaking her head, Chloe chuckles and looks back out the window as she puffs on her cigarette. Giving herself a few minutes, she glances over her shoulder again and spots Max bending over briefly to grab something from a cupboard; revealing her rather alluring legs underneath the skirt she’s wearing. Chloe bites her lip and places her head against the wall as she watches with  _ interest. _

Thinking for a second, Max looks sideways and spots Chloe looking at her. She smirks and playfully lifts up her skirt to reveal more, laughing as she does so. “You like?” she calls out.

“Jesus Christ,” Chloe mumbles and looks away, quickly finishing her cigarette. In seconds she slips off the window sill and makes her way to the kitchen.

“No,  _ Chloe _ \- I’m making food-”

“I don’t care,” she says as she immediately presses up against her and pushes her into a counter, her hands already on her hips. “You  _ can’t  _ tease like that and  _ not _ expect me to do something.”

“Stop.” Max holds up her hand and looks at her with narrowed eyes. “Not now.”

_ “Maax-” _

“Food,” she says and jabs her finger towards the living room. “You. Sit. Now.”

Chloe drops her head onto her shoulder and sighs.  _ “Please?” _

“Later.” Max places her hands on her chest and shoves her away lightly. “Go sit and wait, food comes first.”

“Fine,” she huffs out and turns around in a strop.

Max rolls her eyes and resumes making food.

* * *

Their local club,  _ Nero’s, _ was rather packed for a weekday night; people of all ages had already kept themselves busy dancing, drinking and talking amongst themselves as loud music pumped out through the speakers - the tracks chosen by the DJ who was controlling everything from his booth overlooking the dance floor.

“What do you wanna do first?” Chloe asks as they make their way towards the bar in the middle.

Max shrugs and adjusts her low-cut top. “I don’t really mind!” she replies over the music. “I  _ have _ to get at least two interviews done before we leave though!”

Chloe bobs her head and squeezes Max’s hand as she’s led by her. “I’ll make sure to not to get you drunk before that then!”

“Oh, yeah, I can  _ totally _ trust you!” she replies and laughs.

“Hey!” Chloe grins because she _ knows _ that she’ll get her drunk before that; after-all, what's the fun in conducting sober interviews?

Finding themselves at the bar moments later, the bartender approaches the two of them. “What can I get ya?” he asks as he wipes a glass with a clean cloth.

“I’ll have a beer,” Chloe says and looks at Max. “What about you babe?”

“Beer will be fine,” she smiles as the bartender nods to the two of them and takes off. “Should we do our usual?”

“What? Sit in a booth, get drunk and party all night?” Chloe laughs and leans against the bar, looking around the club.

“How about you sit in a booth, we drink  _ one _ beer, I go interview people and  _ then _ we party all night?” Max asks over the beat and smiles.

“Boo! No fun!” Chloe reaches over to run her hand through the mousy brown hair playfully. “I’m kidding, let’s do that!”

Taking their drinks the moment they receive them, the two of them battle through the crowds to reach their usual booth in the back; immediately sitting next to each other.

“Cheers,” they say in unison as they clink their bottles together.

Max cringes when the bitter taste hits her throat - she usually hates drinking beer, she’s more fond of sweet cocktails and the like, but she makes exceptions when she’s with Chloe.

“Are you ever going to get used to it?” Chloe asks when she spots her girlfriend's reaction. “You’d think you could take it like a champ now, considering how much you actually drink when we’re out.”

“I don’t like it,” she admits and sips from the bottle anyway. “But alcohol is alcohol, right? Can’t complain.”

Chloe laughs and leaves sloppy smooch on her cheek. “I love you nerd.”

She flashes a grin and leans against her quietly, burrowing her face into her shoulder.

As the next hour flies by quite quickly, the couple fill the time with lighthearted banter, suggestive looks and winks, more alcohol and a small bout of dancing. They have  _ fun;  _ their first time back in a club after months, they decide to just get wild rather than conservative about the whole thing.

Pressing another kiss against her lips, Chloe slips her tongue inside briefly as she moves closer. “Give me a sec babe,” she whispers when they break apart. “I’ll grab fresh drinks.”

“Be quick,” Max says and giggles, quickly stealing another kiss from her.

Collecting their empty bottles, Chloe gets up and laughs when she receives a smack on her own behind from her girlfriend. “Naughty!” she shouts back and hears the bout of giggles that follows.

_ Fucking Christ, _ she thinks to herself when she has to push her way through the even bigger crowd. Seeing the bar ahead, she smiles when she receives a knowing look from the bartender. Seconds later he pulls out two fresh bottles and sets them down.

“Here,” he says and takes her empty ones instead. “You two having a good time?”

“Yeah!” she exclaims over the music. “Thanks for asking, this place is our regular spot!”

He raises an eyebrow. “Seriously? I’ve never seen you here before.”

Chloe leans forward slightly and bobs her head. “We used to come here months ago, don’t think I saw you either. Chloe,” she says and extends her hand.

“Liam,” he replies as he shakes her hand. “Whatever happened that stopped the two of you coming here?”

“Oh, I had to leave - deployment,” she continues and pulls up her dog tags. “I only came back like two weeks ago, honourably discharged because of an injury.”

“Wow, that must’ve sucked,” he nods to himself as he disposes of the two empty bottles. “That your girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” she says and displays a proud smile. “I got real lucky, huh?”

Liam laughs and nods again. “You could say that, yeah.”

“Hey, don’t you be eyeballin’ my girl!” she says and playfully jabs a finger towards him. “Already had to deal with one asshole today, ain’t in the mood for another one.”

Throwing up his hands in mock surrender, he chuckles. “You’re not gonna find me mirin’.”

Chloe smirks as she takes their bottles.

“Might want to hurry up though, seems somebody has picked up interest in her,” Liam says and flicks his chin in the direction of their booth.

Immediately her heads turns, eyes narrowed as she scans for the person in question. She scowls as her heart rate picks up, her grip around the bottles vice-like; almost crushing the glass itself. “That  _ prick!” _

“Hey, watch it-”

“Woah, look out dude-”

“Jesus - what the hell-”

Chloe shoves her way through the crowd with fire in her eyes, becoming more and more violent with her pushes the closer she gets. When she bursts out of the crowd, she runs the rest of the way. “You  _ prick!” _

Wyatt, both stoned and drunk out of his mind, simply turns around away from Max mid-sentence. “Huh?”

Max watches as in a flash the fist makes contact with his face and he goes barrelling backwards onto the table. Momentarily two hands find his collar and pull him right back up as two more strikes find his face in quick succession.

_ “I fucking told you!” _ Chloe shouts over the music as she looks over the groaning, bleeding Wyatt inches from her face. “I told you to stay the  _ fuck _ away from her!” 

He simply whines in reply as he tries to cover his nose.  _ “J-Jesus-” _

“Jesus ain’t going to save you now asshole!” she continues and slams him down onto the table, ignoring the fact that now she’s attracting quite the attention from the crowds around them. With her fist raised, she prepares to slam it right back down into his face.

_ “Chloe!” _ Max shouts and grabs her forearm quickly. “Chloe, it’s fine! You’ve already hit him!”

Stopping short, she lets out a heavy breath and continues to stare down into him.

“Chloe, just let him go; you’ve taught him a lesson!” she begs again as she tries pulling down her arm. “C’mon!”

Getting a grip after a few more moments, she sighs and drops her fist but keeps her hold on his collar. “Fine,” she mumbles and hoists him up with both hands, shoving him away and into the crowd - watching as he stumbles and falls onto the floor with another groan. “Prick.”

Wyatt shakes himself off as he’s helped up by some nearby bystanders, holding his nose with one hand the entire time. Gazing at the couple momentarily, he disappears into the crowds seconds later.

“Chloe,” Max says and watches her girlfriend continue to look towards the spot where he’d disappeared, “Chloe!”

“Y-yeah?” she finally breathes out and looks down at Max. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Max sighs and takes her hand. “What about you? How are you? Chloe…  _ jeez, _ you really knocked him up, like…  _ wowser.”  _ Max does her best to suppress a proud smile.

“I’m good,” she replies. “I’m good,” she repeats and holds up her hand, staring at her rather bloodied knuckles, noticing a few stray cuts and a lingering pain in her bones. “Actually… I think I kinda f-fucked up my hand.”

“Lets… let’s go home, okay? I’ll do the interviews another time,” Max mumbles and gazes around at the now slightly dissipating crowd; a few faces still looking at them whilst others simply turn around and walk away now that the show, as short as it was, is over.

Chloe nods and allows Max to tug her uninjured hand, leading her through the crowds. On the way out, she catches a glance from Liam as he laughs and gives a thumbs up.

* * *

“I’m sorry.”

“Shush,” Max says as she finishes wrapping up her knuckles with a bandage. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I hit him,” she mumbles and looks down at her hand. “You said you didn’t want me to be violent.”

“I… I actually kinda wanted you to,” Max admits and strokes her thumb over her palm. “I suspected he wouldn’t listen to words. He’s an a-asshole, it’s fine - he deserved that.”

Chloe forms a weak smile when she hears that; perhaps she  _ was _ right to consider violence - after all, she  _ did _ talk to him first. But again, it  _ wasn’t _ right anyway - she didn’t think so, even if she  _ kinda _ did. “I’m sorry anyway,” she repeats, quite clearly conflicted over the whole thing.

“Oh, shush already!” Max looks up at her as they sit on the couch. “I’m proud of you, okay? You… you stood up for me. Perhaps I should’ve done it myself, but… I’m proud of you.”

“Really?” she asks as her entire demeanour changes into a happier, more hopeful one.

“Yes,  _ really.” _ Max giggles and pulls her into a hug. 

“You’re not going to get in trouble or something at work, r-right?” 

“No.” Max kisses her cheek and stands up, pulling up her girlfriend with her. “If anything, he’ll be the one in trouble - though I doubt that.”

Chloe nods as she’s led through the darkness towards their bedroom. “Okay.”

Closing the door behind them, Max turns around and grabs Chloe’s shirt instead. “C’mon, let’s get you undressed.”

She chuckles as she lifts up the shirt over her head. “So eager, huh?”

“I  _ swear,” _ she rolls her eyes, “even after punching some dude in a club and then moping about it, all you can think of is sex. You’ve literally got a one track mind.”

“Can’t resist with you around.” Chloe grins as she lies down on their bed and waits, watching Max undress in the process.

Once on the bed herself, Max is immediately enveloped by her girlfriend and once again forced to be the little spoon (not that Max ever complains). “Do… do you mind picking me up tomorrow too? In the office, I mean.”

“If you want,” she mumbles and burrows her face in her usual spot in her chestnut hair.

“Okay.” Max brings up her hand to her lips and kisses the fresh bandage. “My hero.”

Chloe hums in approval and falls asleep shortly afterwards; not even needing her meds to help her after the rather eventful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She warned him, right?  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Only a few more chapters planned before I write this story off as complete. Not the AU though - this is far too fun to write! FLUFF SEQUELS GALORE.
> 
> As usual, thanks for the comments and kudos! Means a lot my dudes!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	10. Feetsies

“Hey, you, wake up.”

“Mm.”

“C’mon, wake up,” Chloe repeats with a smirk, running her hand up Max’s leg. “Come onnnn…”

“Chloe, go away - lemme sleep,” she replies and swats the hand away. “Go watch a movie or summin’.”

“Baby, but I’ve made you breakfast,” she whispers as she crawls up the bed carefully, ensuring to not disturb the tray she’d set down. “Wake up,” she continues and presses a series of kisses up her neck.

“Grr,” she growls, slapping her hand down on Chloe’s thigh. “Just a bit more, _pleaseee...”_

“Do you want your waffles to go cold?” she asks and scrapes her nails up her leg again. “Maaax~”

Opting to stay silent, Max instead burrows her face further into her pillow and ignores the incessant pestering.

Chloe, upon noticing that she’s being ignored, narrows her eyes and starts to gently blow some air into Max’s hair. “Maaax,” she repeats and blows again, “c’mon, wake up ya big baby.”

“Chloe, for _fucks sake,_ let me sleep!” she shouts into the pillow.

Going frigid at the reaction, Chloe stays silent.

“Sorry,” Max mumbles in reply and turns her head to the side. “I’m grumpy because you woke me up.”

“Grumpy?” she asks with both eyebrows raised. “I’d say you’re more _pissed_ than _grumpy,_ but okay.”

Max sighs and drops her head back to the side again. “Sorry,” she repeats and takes Chloe’s hand; giving it a bundle of kisses on the palm. “Did you say you made me breakfast?”

“Yes,” she whispers and sits up, revealing the tray she’d set down; its contents being a huge stack of waffles covered in whipped cream and strawberries, two coffee’s and a bacon omelette. “Ta-dah!”

Looking over the food, Max flashes a goofy smile and moves up to kiss her cheek. “Thank you,” she says and shuffles closer to the tray. “I don’t deserve such a good girlfriend.”

“Wrong!” Chloe crawls herself over to the other side of the tray, immediately getting dug into her omelette. “Baby, you deserve everything in the world and then some.”

“Wowser,” she mumbles with a mouth full of Belgian waffle. “Firstly - this is _hella_ good. Secondly - you’re sweet.”

Chloe laughs quietly at Max’s use of ‘hella’, forking over some bacon into her mouth. “Glad you think so.”

Quickly devouring their respective dishes, the two of them stay silent as they sip their coffee in between mouthfuls of delicious food. A few minutes later, Max looks up at the clock on her nightstand and sighs.

“I’ve gotta go to work,” she mumbles as she finishes the last piece of her waffle. “Sucky.”

“You sure?” Chloe asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “Are you _confident?”_

“Obviously I’m confident that I’m working in an hour, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” she says and looks at her. “Why are you smirking?” she asks and looks at the clock again. “You didn’t like… set my clock backwards or forwards or something?”

“You’re literally the most adorable nerd,” Chloe smiles and leans forward to plant a kiss on her lips. “I think you’ve overworked yourself to the point that you forgot - it's your day off today.”

“Huh?” Max looks back at the clock briefly and then back at her girlfriend. “Oh my god,” she mumbles and falls down, releasing a loud, yet muffled groan into their covers. “I totally forgot.”

Chloe grins as she collects the tray now littered with dirty plates, cutlery and coffee cups. “I’ll be right back,” she says and disappears behind the door.

Max turns to the side and looks up at the ceiling, letting out a content sigh now that she’d eaten a quite fulfilling and equally delicious breakfast; also learning that today is in fact her day off.

“Don’t get lost up in Cloud 9, nerd.” Chloe snorts as she enters the room again and closes the door. In seconds she throws herself down beside Max and leans on her elbow. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

With a smirk, she turns her head to the side. “You,” she replies.

“Oh?” Chloe raises her eyebrow. “All things nice, I hope?”

“You bet.” Max giggles and looks back up at the ceiling. “Have you thought some more about what we should do for Christmas? It’s like two weeks away, my mom has been texting me at work day by day.”

“Eh…” Chloe mirrors Max’s position as she gazes at the whitewashed ceiling herself. “I still think we should spend it together.”

“You really think so?” she asks and gives her a quick sideways glance. “My mom will be livid, dad will probably be indifferent.”

“Same here.” Chloe reaches down to grab Max’s hand and brings it up between them, threading their fingers together. “But we’re _adults,_ not _kids._ They’ve had two decades with us, we hadn’t even had one year together; not to mention one _holiday_ together.”

Max smiles and looks at her again. “I’m going to have to ask my mom about all the Christmas stuff.”

“Can’t be that hard, can it?” Chloe meets her gaze and winks. “Christmas tree, fuckloads of lights… uh…”

“Price.exe has stopped working.” Max laughs and hums the Windows XP shutdown jingle.

“You’re such a nerd,” she whispers and looks up at the ceiling again. After a few moments she squeezes their hands as she speaks, “We’ll figure stuff out together. It’ll be a learning experience, how about that?”

“Sure,” Max replies and continues to look at her quietly. “I wub you.”

Chloe looks back down and snorts. “Yeah, _‘I wub you’_ too.”

Giving her nightstand a quick look, Max notices that it’s still only 8:53AM. “You’re still a dick for waking me up this early though.”

“Even after I made you breakfast?” she exclaims and lifts up her head.

“Even after you made me breakfast,” she responds and giggles. “Although breakfast was unusually delicious today.”

Flashing a wide grin, Chloe rolls over to the side and hoists herself above Max. “I’ve added a secret ingredient, that’s why.”

“What was it?” Max inquires as she looks up at her girlfriend.

“Lil’ bit of love,” she whispers as she lowers herself down and kisses at the side of her neck. “But really - it’s a secret, can’t have you knowing the recipe now, can I? Then you’d be able to replace me, wouldn’t want that.”

“It’d take _a lot_ more than knowing your waffle recipe for me to even _consider_ replacing you,” Max mumbles in response and shifts her head to the side, giving Chloe more room to work with.

Nibbling and biting softly, Chloe snorts quietly. “Like?”

“For starters I’d need to find somebody with a killer body like yours,” she says and hitches a breath when Chloe leaves a hickey in response. “That’d be a colossal task itself.”

“You like my body, huh?” Chloe mutters as she moves down to her collarbone, trailing pecks across the soft, freckled skin.

“Mhm,” she hums out in reply. “I’d also have to find someone willing to punch an asshole for me because he was too pushy.”

Chloe giggles and drifts her hands up beneath Max’s baby-blue nightshirt, scraping her nails up and down her ribs. “...and?”

“I’d have to make sure they’d make me feel like a queen between the sheets,” she whispers and gasps when Chloe bites at her skin again. _“That,”_ she lets slip a quiet moan, “would be the hardest task of all.”

“Well, thank you.” Chloe smiles as she slowly lifts the shirt up with her hands. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Oh, it’s more than that.” Max bites her lip and closes her eyes as she feels the pair of lips slowly working their way down further and further. “F-fuck, _Chloe…”_

“Your wish is my command,” she replies with a cocky grin aimed at herself.

* * *

 

For the fifth time in the past hour, Chloe shoves Max’s feet off her chest. “Get your goddamn stinkers off me!” she complains as she rests them beside her instead. “I’m trying to watch TV here.”

Max giggles as she sits on the opposite end of the couch with her laptop on her lap, her half finished article displayed on a document. Tapping away for a few seconds, she sneaks a peek over the screen and notices her girlfriend entranced in the TV again - she quickly puts her feet on her chest.

“Maxine!” she shouts this time, annoyed. “Let me watch TV!”

“Boo!” Max sticks out her tongue and looks down at her laptop as Chloe throws her feet to the side again. “There isn’t anything on the TV anyway.”

Chloe gives her a sideways glance and rolls her head. “What should I do then? _Work?”_

In return Max rolls her eyes instead. “Fine,” she mumbles and resumes working on her article. “Asshole.”

“I’m the asshole?” Chloe utters and gives her a quick look. _“I’m_ the asshole?” she repeats.

Max sighs and looks over the laptop, locking their eyes momentarily. “I’m just trying to have fun, _sorry_ that I’m bothering your highness."

She scoffs and shakes her head, looking at the TV. “You got some sorta foot fetish, don't you?” she suddenly says out of the blue and flashes a huge smirk.

“Huh?” Max immediately raises both her eyebrows and looks over the laptop, slightly dumbfounded. “What?”

“You’ve got a foot fetish, that’s why you keep throwing your damn stinkers in my face,” she repeats and smirks ever wider. “I’ve _totally_ figured you out.”

Max blushes, her cheeks ablaze; the colour comparable to a ripe tomato. “Fuck off!” she says and lifts up her middle finger. “I do _not_ have a foot fetish!”

“Liar!” Chloe exclaims and follows it with laughter. “You totally have a foot fetish!”

Slamming her laptop closed, Max scowls at her girlfriend; now jabbing forward her other hand with the middle-finger also raised. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you! You’re making shit up as usual!”

With her ever present smirk, Chloe grabs both her feet and pulls them closer as Max yelps in return. “I think not, you’ve totally, _totally_ got a lady boner for feet,” she continues as she looks over her bare soles. “One hundred percent, uh-huh.”

“Chloe, let go!” Max pouts as she tries to wrestle free of the hardened grip around her ankles. “Leave my feetsies alone!”

“Oh no,” she shakes her head and develops a smug expression. “I’ve got you now, there’s no escape.” Chloe presses a quick kiss against Max’s toes.

“Chloe, ew! That’s _gross!”_ she protests loudly and tries to kick her feet free, wiggling her toes in the process. “Let goooo!”

With another kiss to her other toes, she laughs again. “This hella turning you on.”

“No it isn’t!” Max sits up to the best of her ability as she tries to reach forward to her feet; her arms falling short. “Chloe!”

Letting go of her ankles, Chloe instead grasps her hands and swiftly pulls her forward until they both collide chests. “Hey,” she whispers as their noses smoosh together, “you’ve got a thing for feet, admit it.”

Max groans and tries to struggle out of the grip to hit her, not finding much success against her much stronger counterpart. “I do _NOT_ have a foot fetish,” she seethes out and narrows her eyes. “Get that out of your thick head, asshole!”

“It’s alright to be a lil’ bit weird baby,” Chloe murmurs and gives her an eskimo kiss. “For example - I’ve got a thing for whips and chains.”

Blushing harder than before, Max’s eyes widen. _“R-really?”_ she asks with a wavering voice, her previous train of thought suddenly interrupted by the revelation.

“Nah, I’m pullin’ ya leg,” she admits and laughs when she receives a scowl in reply. “We’ve all got a fetish though, I ain’t shaming…”

“Chloe, for the last fucking time, I do NOT have a foot fetish!” Max huffs out an annoyed breath and looks away, focusing on anything but her. “You’re making stuff up!”

“Whatever you say,” she shrugs and pulls her even closer until she squirms due to the proximity of their faces; crushing their features together. “C’mon, admit it…”

“Chloe, _ugh!”_ Max pulls back with some force until these at least a few inches distance between them.

As Chloe looks at her, Max in turn looks around in silence for the next minute.

“Fine!” she finally says and looks down at her with her blood-infused cheeks. “Fine, _whatever,_ you got me.”

Chloe widens her eyes briefly. “Holy shit!” she exclaims gleefully and laughs. “Holy shit, I’ve totally _actually_ got it!”

“Don’t laugh!” Max pouts as she manages to get a hand free, slamming it down onto her chest. “Don’t fucking lau- _AHH!”_

Hoisting her up with ease, Chloe pulls Max over her shoulder as she stands up from the couch. “You’ve got a kink!” she exclaims as she envelops her hips with one arm to hold her up.

“CHLOE! LET ME DOWN!” Max shouts and slaps her hands against her back. “LET GO OF ME!”

Parading her around to the invisible crowds, Chloe ignores the minor stings on her back as she laughs and giggles her way around their living room. “A _foot fetish,_ who’d have thought!”

“CHLOE, YOU DICK!” she continues her complaints as she slaps even harder, trying to looking around the room whilst it’s upside down. “PUT ME DOWN!” she shouts repeatedly, each time the pitch higher than before.

Before Chloe can retort, a loud series of knocks echoes from down the hallway - origination from their front door.

“Shit,” she mumbles and quickly lowers Max down onto her feet; shrinking a bit under the deadly scowl she receives in an instant. “S-sorry,” she mumbles and looks up at the door as another series of knocks follows up.

“You open the door,” Max mumbles and jabs her finger down the hallway. _“Now,”_ she commands.

Making her way to the door, she unlocks it and opens it just wide enough to peer through. “Yes?” she asks as she notices one of their neighbours; an elderly woman in her late 40’s - _Annabelle,_ Chloe remembers.

“Just in case the two of you kids haven’t realised, you’ve got damn neighbours in this building!” she says with a tone of annoyance present. “We’d all appreciate if the two of you didn’t kill each other, nor shout out those… _things_ for everyone to hear!”

Chloe rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. “Y-yeah, sorry about that,” she grins, ”my girl decided she’s got a thing for feet so-”

“I _DON’T_ want to know!” Annabelle quickly turns her head away and tries to cover up her own blush. “Just… keep quiet the two of you, you’re not alone in this building,” she finishes off and walks away.

Closing the door shut, Chloe turns around and shrinks again when she burns up under the unholy scowl Max is giving her.

_“Are you cereal?”_ she hisses out and throws her hands down beside her. “Did you _really_ say that to her? _Did you really fucking say that?”_

Rubbing her neck again, Chloe tries to flash a weak, apologetic smile. “Sorry?” she mumbles and shrugs.

_“Sorry?!”_ she hisses out louder this time. _“You’re SORRY?!”_

Chloe drops her head in defeat and doesn’t say anything.

“Chloe, for _fucks…_ ugh!” Max lets out a heavy breath and puts her hands on her hips. After a moment, she turns around and runs her fingers through her hair, gripping at the roots to ensure this _isn’t_ actually a dream and Chloe did _not_ just say those things to their neighbour.

With a slow step, Chloe finds herself a foot away from Max; her own head still hung low in shame. “Sorry,” she repeats as she doesn’t know what to really say in the situation. “S-sorry-”

“Okay, shush, I get it!” Max says with a bit more venom than she’d intended. “You’re sorry, I get it baby.”

She stays silent.

“Chloe, you can’t… you can’t just say those things, okay?” Max whispers and brings up a hand to her girlfriend’s chin, lifting it up so she could look at her. “It’s bad enough that I was scared of revealing it to _you;_ now you’ve gone ahead and announced to our neighbour that _barely tolerates us_ as is.”

Chloe nods.

“Don’t… don’t do that again, okay?” she murmurs and pulls her into a hug. “Keep these things to ourselves.”

Chloe nods again and noses herself into Max’s hair. “Sorry," she mumbles again.

With the rather playful mood now killed, replaced with a sombre atmosphere instead, Max sighs into Chloe’s chest and sways them gently side to side. “We’ve decided to have Christmas together, right?” she asks and glances up at her.

“Yeah,” she utters under her nose. “Yeah, we did.”

“How about we get into the spirit of things, get a Christmas tree?” Max smiles her best given the circumstances and her still flushing cheeks. “We can decorate early since I’ve got constant work until the break.”

Lifting her mood immediately, Chloe smiles and nods a few times. “Yeah, let’s get a Christmas tree.”

Max giggles at the change of demeanour in her girlfriend, tiptoeing up to kiss her quickly. “You’re a dork, but you’re my dork.”

* * *

 

Pulling the vehicle into a wooded path, Chloe peers ahead at the heavily forested, snow covered surroundings.

“Jesus, who’d have thought we’d have to go out this far to get a Christmas tree in _Oregon,”_ she speaks under her breath and shoots a sideways glance at Max looking out the window with a blank expression. “Hey, you okay?”

Max nods and forms a weak smile. “Just a bit annoyed.”

Chloe sighs and nods. “I won’t do it again,” she assures her and reaches over to squeeze her thigh. “I hella won’t.”

“Mhm.”

Minutes later the ‘73 Camaro pulls up into a lot filled with freshly cut Christmas trees; all of them displayed individually in their own stands. Stepping outside, Max and Chloe looks around and breathe in the pine-filled air.

“Wowser,” Max whispers and smiles beneath her scarf, walking over to stand beside Chloe. “This is so cool, I’ve never been to buy a Christmas tree before…”

“Seriously?” Chloe looks down at her with her eyebrows raised. “You’ve _never_ been to one of these before?”

“No,” she admits with a sigh. “My mom was overprotective of me in the winter, was worried I’d get a cold or something, they normally left me at home.”

Chloe nods and looks ahead at the various families, individuals and couples walking around; window shopping for their own trees. “C’mon, let’s go find us a tree,” she speaks with a smile and waits until Max hooks her hand around her arm.

Meandering together from tree to tree, the two of them discuss and argue quietly about what kind they want to get. Chloe wants to get the biggest one possible, something that’d touch the ceiling of their living room, whilst Max argues for a smaller, more accessible (for her particularly) tree instead. In the end, they both agree to instead get something between small and huge; labelling the height as ‘perfect’ (although neither of them have any idea what that height is, only that it rests between huge and small).

“Oh, oh!” Max exclaims and jabs her finger forward. “There!”

Looking ahead, Chloe flashes a smile. “That one’s nice.”

Resting at the perfect height between small and huge, their chosen tree is particularly lush; it’s needles covering every possible surface of its equally impressive branches that splay out in a conical pattern from top to bottom.

“Yes!” Max says as she runs ahead a few feet and starts to look over it. “Chlobear, this is it!”

Chloe can’t help but smile wide at how happy Max is at the prospect of having found a perfect Christmas tree for them. “This one?” she asks as she looks over the spruce herself. “You sure?”

“Yep!” Max smiles and shoves her hands into her pockets. Moments later she drops her smile and looks at Chloe. “Don’t you like it?” she whispers quietly.

“Oh, no! I hella like it,” she quickly says and laughs. “I was just too busy looking at you fawning over a tree.”

“Shush you!” Max shakes her head and glances at the tree again. “I told you this is my first time at one of these things, it’s… exciting!”

Chloe laughs again. “Okay you nerd, let’s go find one of the dudes who works here to help.”

Max happily hooks her hand underneath her arm again and keeps up a goofy smile the entire time she’s led through the trees.

“You know,” Chloe starts and looks around with an awkward grin, “I know you wanted a small tree, and I in turn wanted a big tree…”

“...yeah?”

“I think I kinda forgot to mention that Bumblebee might struggle carrying _any sized tree,”_ she admits and lets out a nervous chuckle. “Not a lot of space in the trunk, nor the back. I doubt we can secure it on the roof either…”

Max pouts.

* * *

 

Back in their apartment a few hours later, the evening hours creep up on them as they stand side by side and look at the new occupant of the room; their perfect Christmas tree (delivered by a rather friendly old man who was more than happy to help haul the thing back to Portland in his truck).

“Mr. Needles,” Max says and scrunches up her nose.

“What?” Chloe looks at her, confused. “Mr. Needles?”

“That’s what we’re calling it,” she continues and bobs her head. “Mr. Needles.”

“Did you just… did you just _name_ our Christmas tree?” Chloe goes through an array of expressions as she looks at Max. “You’re _such_ a weirdo!”

“Hey!” she says and looks up at her in turn. “My parents always used to name our tree’s, it’s tradition.”

“A hella weird tradition,” Chloe mumbles and receives a jab into her ribs. “Ow!”

“Dick,” she whispers and giggles, turning on her heel to look at the brand new Christmas decorations they’d bought on the way back. “Wowsers! There’s so much stuff to _dooooo!”_

“Alright, don’t get too excited.” Chloe snorts as she opens up the first box containing baubles of differing shapes and sizes.

“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe, Chlobear, baby!” Max jumps up and down in her spot with another pout. “This is gonna be our first Christmas, be more happy!”

“Max, calm down!” she exclaims and laughs, placing her hands on her shoulders. “You’re like a damn energizer bunny, don’t wear yourself out.”

Following her advice, Max calms down sufficiently enough that Chloe finally allows her to start decorating the tree. As the two of them go through the three boxes of stuff they’d bought, they decorate Mr. Needles with an array baubles, lights, tinsel and a sprinkling of fake snow.

That is to say - they decorate it over the length of nearly _three hours_ thanks to Max’s sudden hyper activeness. Chasing each other around the living room more than three times over the length of their intended task, they smash (even though they were both careful _to an extent)_ multitudes of baubles on accident and as such waste a lot of their time clearing up the debris they’d left behind.

"Get over here," Chloe says as she holds the final piece of their Christmas tree; the star. "Put this on top."

Happily accepting, Max takes the adornment and stands on her tiptoes in an attempt to reach the top. "Chloe, can't reach!" she pouts as she tries to jump up.

Smirking at her attempts, Chloe instead grabs her sides and leans into her ear. "Ready?" she asks and waits for Max to nod, hoisting her up with ease; watching as she plants the star on top of Mr. Needles.

"Yes!" Max celebrates with a sway of her hips when she's put back down, looking over their finished tree. "Light's off!" she says and runs over to turn off their living room lights, enshrouding the room in darkness.

“Alright,” Chloe finally huffs out and bends over briefly, holding her knees. “You ready for the big moment?” she asks as she picks up the plug and the extender cord from the floor, struggling to find it in the darkness.

“Yes!” Max says and holds both her hands up to her chest, waiting, extremely giddy in anticipation.

“It’s showtime!”

The moment Chloe plugs in the lights, the room is bathed in a kaleidoscope of colour; LED lights shining bright onto every surface it has access too.

“Oh my god…” Max whispers and stares at the spectacle with childlike wonder. “Amazeballs...”

Chloe takes a moment to appreciate the sight herself before she glances to the side with a grin. Reaching over to the kitchen island behind her, she grabs something and walks up to Max. “Hey, nerd.”

With a look to the side, Max drops her hands down a bit. “Yeah?”

Shit-eating grin present, Chloe brings up her hand above them and reveals a branch of mistletoe. “Can I get a kiss?”

Blushing, Max steps forward and crashes their lips together as she stands on her tiptoes, locking her arms behind her neck to keep her close. Grazing her teeth on her bottom lip, she nibbles until Chloe lets her in - immediately deepening their contact as they both push into it, tilting their heads ever so slightly.

Wanting more, Max slips one hand in between them and grasps Chloe’s collar, dragging her backwards until they both fall over the edge of the couch in a fit of giggles; the mistletoe falling down above the two of them.

Chloe moves back a few inches as she brings up her hand to brush Max’s cheek. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to say _‘Wowser’?”_ she badly imitates Max’s voice in the last part of her sentence, chuckling.

Laughing in response, Max pecks her lips and gives Mr. Needles a sideways glance. “I’m really glad we decided to spend Christmas together,” she admits in a whisper.

“Me too,” Chloe replies and looks at the tree herself.

Reaching over her head, Max searches around until she grabs the branch of mistletoe herself; promptly raising it above the two of them again. “Can I get another kiss?” she asks with a coy smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CRANK THOSE FLUFF METRES UP TO 11.
> 
> My favourite chapter by far, holy heck I couldn't stop smiling the entire time I wrote this. Max swears a lot when she's pissed too, huh.
> 
> DON'T KINK SHAME, DON'T REVEAL YOUR SO's KINKS TO STRANGERS EITHER.
> 
> I'LL SEE Y'ALL SOON!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	11. Shopping

Chloe yelps when she feels a hand smack her ass. “Ow!” she exclaims and immediately jolts up, bedhead and all. “Ugh, w-what the hell?” she mumbles and rubs her eyes.

“Wake up!” Max giggles and straddles her girlfriend, leaning over her back and resting next to her ear. “It’s the start of my break, dork.”

“Mhm,” she hums in reply and hugs her pillow. “Happy break-start-day baby.”

With another giggle, Max allows herself to flop down on top of her; pressing their bodies together. “I s’pose I could just snuggle here with you,” she murmurs and grabs their sheets, throwing it over themselves. “That works too.”

“I require you to slap my ass a bit more if ya want me to wake up,” Chloe slurs out quietly and lets slip a muffled yawn.

“Oh, you’re into that, are you?” Max snorts and presses a kiss to the back of her neck. ”Thought you said you were exclusively a whips and chains kinda gal?”

“Can’t I be into a bit of everything?” she says and flashes a lewd smile to her side, wiggling her eyebrows for added effect.

“I guess,” Max shrugs. “That’s kinda cheating though.”

“Who says you gotta be limited to one kink, huh?” Chloe asks and looks over her shoulder. “Be wild, gurl, don’t limit yourself to feet.”

Max grumbles and playfully bites her neck. “Who says I’m limiting myself to feet?” she murmurs and nibbles at her earlobe.

Chloe smiles. “Atta girl, that’s more like it.” After a few seconds, she snorts. “Also, you just 100% confirmed you’re into feet, no backing out now.”

“Oh, as if our argument a week ago wasn’t proof enough,” she huffs out and jabs her fingers into her sides, giggling as Chloe jolts to the side.

“Don’t do that,” she shakes her head, “I can’t fight back, no fair.”

Nodding, Max exhales and kisses her way across her exposed shoulders. “You smell nice,” she points out as she catches the whiff of Chloe’s blueberry shampoo.

“Stop smelling me.” Chloe waits a few moments and then grins. “That’s another one of your kinks, isn’t it? Something to do with smell.”

“Maybe,” Max whispers and pecks her way back across the shoulders again.

“What about petplay?”

“Pet… pet-what?” she cocks her eyebrow and glances at Chloe.

“Petplay,” she repeats and chuckles. “I read about it once, people wearing cat ears and stuff, buttplugs and the like.”

“Butt… ew!” Max exclaims and shakes her head. “Nope, no thanks.”

“Have you tried it?” she asks and gives her a smug look; meanwhile in the depths of her mind an idea forms, one that she shelves for now.

“N-no, but-”

“Then don’t slam it, nerd.” Chloe carefully shifts in her place and flips onto her back, now facing Max. “For all you know, you’re gonna be hella into that stuff.”

“Jeez,” she breathes out and collapses onto her chest. “I’ve never heard of half these things before you came into my life.”

“Ain’t you glad?”

“Yeah, obviously,” she replies and runs her finger along the length of her sleeve tattoo. “It’s just… a whole new world to me.”

“It is to me too,” Chloe admits and absently runs her fingers through her hair, scraping her scalp gently. “Relationships especially.”

“Well, in my professional opinion - you’re doing great,” she says and crawls up a few inches, kissing her. “So keep doing what you’re doing,” she kisses her again, “and you might,” again, “get more of this.”

“Sounds great.” Chloe lets out a fulfilled sigh and places on arm behind her head, looking up at the ceiling as Max rests on her chest again. “See? We should talk about this stuff more often, you’re way more open to this stuff than you were a week ago.”

“Well you _were_ kinda acting like an asshole,” she mumbles and continues to trace out her tattoo. “I didn’t mean anything by what I said back then by the way. I was… embarrassed, scared about the whole foot thing; you didn’t exactly help.”

“Yeah, I know,” Chloe confesses and bites her lip. “Not the first time we shouted at each other, or rather you shouted at me, s’fine.”

“So… you never told me about your kinks,” Max whispers and stops tracing briefly.

“Well you never told me about yours. Not all of them.”

“That’s because I don’t have any except for the feet stuff. I dunno, I wanna explore and… ya.” Max shrugs and sighs. “Maybe there’s something else I might like.”

Chloe nods in understanding. “I get you, we can do that together, okay?”

“Mhm.”

“In terms of stuff I like… there’s really nothing spectacular. I guess… I’m into submissives? That’s probably my biggest turn on,” she divulges as she keeps staring at the ceiling.

“...what's that?” Max asks quietly, feeling her cheeks burn up slightly whilst talking about the subject even in the confines of their own bedroom.

“It’s a kinda rougher side of things,” she replies slowly as she tries to find the right words for it. “Like… there’s doms and subs, right? Doms are exactly what you’d think - dominant, possessive. Subs are the opposite.”

“So… you’re into being submissive?”

“No, no, I’m _into_ submissives, like… thats my turn on. I’m more dominant.” Chloe forms a crooked smile to herself. “Incase you couldn’t tell from experience.”

Max can’t help but giggle at the comment.

“I’ve never let it out completely when we fool around because I don’t know how you’d react,” she reveals almost silently. “I don’t want to scare you or something.”

“Well… since we’re talking about this stuff more now…” Max lifts up her head and rests her chin on her chest, looking up at Chloe. “How about we try it?”

“What, like right now?” she asks as her eyes widen slightly.

“No, maybe not right now.” Max giggles and looks at the clock on her night stand. “We’ve still got Christmas shopping to do, not to mention we’ve gotta get ready for the office thing tonight.”

“Right, right.”

“Maybe soon though.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Caulfield.”

* * *

 

Hand in hand, Max and Chloe walk through the Christmas crowds in the Lloyd Centre, immersing themselves into the joyful atmosphere around them.

“Do you think your mom will like her present?” Max asks as they pass an array of shops and boutiques all advertising sales for the season.

Chloe snorts. “A new waffle-maker? If there’s one person who’d like that, it’d be her.”

“What about your step-dad?” she inquires and bites her lip, a tad nervous. “You said he’s all into the mechanic stuff as a hobby, do you think the new tools will suit him?”

“Max, don’t worry about it.” Chloe squeezes her hand and lifts it up, kissing her fingertips. “David will be completely fine, hell, I doubt either of them even expect presents from _me,_ nevermind _us.”_

Max nods and shoots a sideways glance at an upcoming shop, humming to herself as she goes over the various jewelry on display briefly.

Giving it a look of her own, Chloe smiles and peers away at something else. “What about your parents?” she asks as Max tugs them towards the centre of the mall.

“Oh, believe me, dad with _love_ your gift,” she mumbles and giggles. “Seriously, the brandy you bought is some of the top-shelf stuff, like… some of the best.”

“Yeah, my wallet can confirm that I s’pose.”

“Mom… is a bit different. She’ll either love it or hate it, there’s really no way of knowing until after Christmas.” Max shrugs and looks up at her girlfriend.

“Jesus Christ,” she shakes her head, “$300 for a set of goddamn kitchen knives and she’ll either love them or hate them. What the hell is so special about this _damascus steel_ anyway?”

“You’ll find out if she hates them.”

“Oh, yeah, _thanks."_

Max laughs and pulls herself closer, burying her face in her jacket. “It’ll be fine. I just feel like the first Christmas you kinda have to impress them, show them you’re real committed.”

“Is me loving you not commitment enough?” she asks quietly as she looks over at an ice rink in the centre of the mall.

“Of course it is baby,” she whispers and presses a quick kiss against her cheek. “It’s just that my parents are real… hard to please sometimes, eh… money kinda does that to you.”

Chloe nods and stays silent afterwards. After a few minutes of walking through more crowds, she glances at her again. “What about Kate, Juliet and Warren?”

“Oh, they’ll be fine with what I bought them,” she speaks and dismisses the question with her hand. “Don’t worry about it.

“Cool, cool.”

“Hey, want to try the ice rink?” Max asks as she looks at the huge arena set up in the middle of the mall. “It’s been a while since I’ve ice skated.”

“Huh?” she raises an eyebrow and looks at the rink and then Max. “Uh… I’ve never ice skated before, I dunno, I’ll probably fall over and land on my ass or something.”

“That’s fine, I can teach you!” Max exclaims as she changes direction and drags them towards the makeshift arena instead.

“Max, I-I don’t know…”

“C’mon you dork, there’s no harm in trying,” she continues and looks back at her with a smile. “Besides, your butt is hard enough to withstand the impact.”

Chloe laughs and sighs afterwards. “Fine, no harm in trying I guess.”

So Max lead the two of them into the rink, grabbing two pairs of skates on the way in. Sitting down on the edge, they quickly swap their shoes for the skates in silence.

“So… help me?” Chloe asks with a raised eyebrow and her hand held out. “You’re my teacher, a hot one at that,” she continues with a wink.

Max rolls her eyes as she takes her hand and carefully leads them into the oval rink filled with other couples and individuals skating around in laughter. “Follow my lead, okay? We’ll start slowly.”

For the first few minutes Chloe resigns herself to simply watching Max, occasionally trying to skate forward but immediately losing balance and getting caught by her girlfriend. “Thanks,” she mutters each time with a skewed smile, trying to suppress some embarrassment from looking like an idiot in public.

“Okay, I’m going to wait there - skate over, m’kay?” Max says as she flawlessly skates backwards, spins on her heel and glides away to the other side of the rink; the display causing Chloe’s mouth to drop in slight awe.

“How the fuck,” she murmurs to herself as she glances at Max reaching her destination. “Ugh… here goes,” and with a shaky breath of trepidation, Chloe moves forward as best as she can.

The first few feet are completely fine. To her surprise, Chloe seems to skate across flawlessly - she doesn’t flail her arms around, she doesn’t lose her balance either; perhaps Max’s 60 second lesson _did_ pay off.

Then things go wrong. So, _so_ wrong.

Chloe spots an approaching blur to the side, recognising it as another skater trying to enjoy the experience. She panics and starts to flail her arms around in an attempt to stop, to change direction, to speed up - to do _anything_ to avoid the unavoidable collision about to occur. Seconds from impact, she closes her eyes and admits her fate.

Yet the impact doesn’t come.

“Woo!”

Raising an eyebrow, Chloe opens one eye and notices that she’s now only a few feet away from Max; the girl watching her with an adoring smile whilst she claps.

“You totally owned that!” Max exclaims as she closes the distance between them and grasps Chloe’s forearms gently, pulling her to a stop. “Told you it wasn’t going to be hard!”

“How? Wha… but I… _huh?”_ Chloe looks over her shoulder and sees that indeed, she _did_ cross the entire rink, _and_ she didn’t crash into anyone _or_ fall onto her ass _or_ embarrass herself. “But I totally saw somebody coming straight at me!” she exclaims in confusion.

Max scrunches up her face for a moment and then giggles. “There was like… literally nobody near you. I think you’re hallucinating you dork.”

Chloe looks over her shoulder again and huffs out a breath.

“So how was it? Did my lessons pay off?” Max questions and flashes a smug smile. “Did my big bad girlfriend conquer the monstrous ice rink she was so afraid of?”

“Screw you,” Chloe sticks out her tongue playfully as Max gently skates them to the edge of the rink, “and yes, your lessons actually helped. That's before I started flailing my hands around like a headless chicken.”

Max lets out a gleeful giggle and pulls up her phone, flashing the screen towards Chloe; the display showing a picture of Chloe mid-flail with a look of horror in her eyes. “This is my new wallpaper, thanks for that.”

Before she can protest, Chloe finds herself being pulled back into the rink by Max. “Woah!”

“Calm down!” Max giggles again as she gently leads Chloe with hear, gripping her forearms. “I’ve got you, you’re not gonna fall.”

Deciding to obey, Chloe does her best to do her part as the couple glides towards the middle.

“Hold onto my waist,” Max commands with a smile and lowers Chloe’s hands to her hips. “I’m going to do the work, okay? Just follow my lead again.”

She nods and grips her hands on Max’s hips. “Just don’t… don’t knock me out on my ass, okay?” she mumbles with a trace of apprehension present.

Max slowly starts to move them around, her deep-blue eyes constantly locked with Chloe’s - only occasionally looking away to ensure nobody is within their vicinity. “See? It’s easy,” she whispers as she presses herself closer to her girlfriend, slowly starting to move them around in a circle.

Chloe can’t help but flash her own smile at how confident Max seems compared to her. “Jesus, I can’t believe I’m afraid of a damn ice rink,” she mumbles and laughs at herself.

“S’kay,” Max shrugs, “I was like you the first time too but I got used to it rather fast.” Nibbling on her bottom lip, Max smiles up at Chloe again as she does her best to keep them going on the ice.

“So…” Chloe smiles herself and digs her teeth into her bottom lip briefly herself.

Max doesn’t wait as she moves her hands up Chloe’s arms and wraps them around her neck, pulling her down gently into a kiss; their lips brushing together softly. Chloe reciprocates twice fold, pushing into the kiss and ignoring the fact that a few faces may or may not have turned towards the young couple making out in the middle of the ice rink.

Only a few seconds later they break apart with a smile on both their faces, moving back just far enough to keep their foreheads together.

“Want to go home?” Max asks as her smile turns to a sly grin and her fingers gently scrape the back of Chloe’s neck. “I mean… we got most of the Christmas shopping done… we also have some time before the party… so…”

Chloe laughs and pecks her nose, watching a rosy blush develop on her freckled cheeks at the gentle show of intimacy. “We can go home, sure.”

Max spins on her heel and wastes no time in skating them back across the rink, yelping in surprise the moment she feels a hand floating over her rear and gripping tight. _“Chloe!”_

Chloe laughs.

* * *

 

As the 73’ Camaro makes it’s way down the street, Chloe casts a sideways glance towards Max and gives their intertwined hands a squeeze.

“You look beautiful,” she mentions as she looks of Max’s choice of attire - a navy blue spaghetti strap dress that dropped just below her knees and a matching cardigan that barely clung onto her shoulders.

“You look hella hot,” Max retorts as she gazes at Chloe, leaning over to correct the collar of her light-blue shirt that she’d coupled with some simple jeans and a black beanie (which she wore upon Max’s direct request). “Can’t wait to show you off.”

Chloe shakes her head with a smile as she steers the vehicle. “If anything you’re the one that should be shown off in this relationship, I’m nothing impressive.”

Max frowns and squeezes her hand to get her attention. “Stop, don’t even go down that route, okay? We’re here to have fun and hang out.”

She nods and raises their hands, kissing her manicured nails. “Sorry.”

It takes a few more minutes to get through the Portland traffic, but soon enough Chloe pulls her car over on the curb and kills the engine - peering to the side at the skyrise containing Max’s office.

“C’mon,” Max says and tugs her hand, promptly jumping out of the car.

Chloe follows, locking the vehicle behind them as she runs around it and wraps an arm across Max’s shoulder, pulling her closer to provide some heat on the short walk up the steps and into the lobby.

Checking the time as they enter the lift, Max giggles at her phone wallpaper. “We should be _just_ in time.”

As the elevator ascends, Chloe finds herself looking at the display. 2. 4. 6. **_7…_ ** 8\. 9.

_Ding._

With a tug forward, Max slowly leads them out of the doors and into the office. “Juliet is hosting it in the lounge, this way,” she murmurs and turns down the corridor.

Sure enough, moments later the couple is met with sounds of laughter, quiet music and the clinking of glasses.

“Max! Chloe!” Juliet exclaims as she spots the couple round the corner and turn towards the small lounge where a gathering group sits on the provided couches. “So glad to see you make it!”

Max hugs her friend and watches as she does the same to Chloe. “I said that we’d show up.”

“Awesome! Come on, sit with us - we were just talking about random stuff,” she continues and gestures them forwards towards the seating arrangement.

The three of them sit themselves down, Juliet next to Dana (her plus one) whilst Max and Chloe seat themselves together nearby Warren (and his own plus one; a coal-haired girl with outstanding red highlights).

“Warren, what’s shaking?” Chloe asks as she fistbumps her friend with a smirk. “Who’s this?” she questions and gestures to the girl sitting beside him.

Warren returns a smile and wraps an arm around her, pulling her close as the girl gives Chloe an awkward wave. “Brooke. This the uh… girl that I told you about, remember?”

With a flick of her chin, Chloe flashes her a warm smile. “Sup,” she adds and leans over to shake her hand. “Chloe, Warren’s _ex-_ wingwoman. Seems like he didn’t need my help in the end, huh?”

Brooke laughs as they shake hands. “Warren never mentioned you being his _wingwoman.”_

With a cough, Warren gestures to move the conversation swiftly on and perhaps spare him some embarrassment.

Chloe obliges, instead exchanging a few more words with the two of them before she wraps her arm around Max and joins in on her conversation with Juliet and Dana instead.

As the _‘party’_ went on more drinks and talk was shared; a few beers down got Chloe to finally relent to Max’s requests to dance to the quiet music being played. Thankfully nobody seemed to really care as they were too involved in conversations with each other and the other co-workers who’d arrived after Max and Chloe.

“I was kinda expecting this to be a rave or something,” Chloe admits as she sways with Max side to side, resting her chin on her shoulder. “I kinda like this small get together thing though. It’s nice.”

Max nods as she keeps her arms locked behind Chloe’s neck. “Juliet _wanted_ it to be a rave but everyone got her to back down in the end. Besides, I doubt they’d allow us back here if that happened.”

Chloe chuckles and peers over at the laughing group in the corner as they continue their conversations. “How long is this thing going to go on for?” she asks quietly.

Replying with a shrug, Max speaks, “I really don’t know. We can go if you want?”

“No, no - I’m just wondering, that’s all. We can stay until the end if you want, I really don’t mind.” Chloe kisses her cheek as she continues to sway them side to side with the quiet beat of the song.

“Okay. Let’s just stay for another hour or so, m’kay?”

So they stay for another hour.

They share more conversations and laughter with their close friends, joking about and revealing embarrassing moments from the past; _bonding._ Max introduces Chloe to a few more of her co-workers - mostly background individuals that Chloe can’t remember the name off by the end because her brain is muddled with the alcohol they’d consumed over the duration of their stay.

It’s about 11:43PM when the party ‘officially’ ends and most people are corralled out by Juliet to the elevators.

In reality she simply clears the place to have a short get together with her closest friends. They share one more beer together, raise a toast for themselves, wish luck to one another and say their goodbyes before they leave.

“Max, I… I don’t think I can drive,” Chloe says when they exit the elevator in the lobby. “Kinda had one too many, y’know?”

Max giggles as she slowly leads them outside and towards the parked vehicle on the curb. “Good thing I didn’t drink that much then, huh?”

Chloe gives her a sloppy smooch on the cheek. “Love you,” she murmurs and unlocks the car for them.

When they both settle inside, Chloe hands over her keys and watches as her girlfriend goes through the motions; helping her where applicable as she’s a bit timid at the fact this’ll be the first time she drives her car.

“Just… take it slow, m’kay? Don’t panic, don’t crash, don’t go over the limit-”

“Chloe, I _know_ how to drive.” Max gives her a sideways glance as she forms a smile. “I’ll get us home in one piece, don’t worry.”

That doesn’t really reassure Chloe, but she bites the bullet anyway.

* * *

 

“Hey, does this remind you of something?” Chloe asks as they stride up the stairs of their apartment building in silence.

Max smiles and nods. “Yeah, it does,” she admits and squeezes their hands.

Moments later they arrive in front of their door as Max turns towards Chloe and holds her hand out for the keys.

Chloe fumbles for a minute but hands them over, however before Max can take them she grasps her hand and gently pushes her up against the door; pressing their bodies together as all concept of personal space is extinguished between them.

“Hey now,” Max says with a giggle as she looks up at her girlfriend smirking down. “Can this wait until we’re inside?”

“Nu-uh,” she shakes her head and moves her head down, trailing kisses across her cheek until they end up on her lips instead - softly brushing them together.

Max resists the urge to mewl when the feels the tongue slip through, instead moving her hands up behind her neck and pulling her down even closer.

As hands begin to wonder, Chloe finds herself scraping her chipped nails up Max’s thigh and beyond, quickly finding the heat emanating from in between as her finger runs the length of it’s source. “Mhm,” she hums and smiles into their kiss, “you’re happy.”

“Inside,” Max whispers and pushes Chloe’s hand away. “I… I don’t want to be caught out here, m’kay?”

Chloe takes the keys back and with surprising precision unlocks the door in one attempt, pushing Max against the surface again as it opens; their lips in constant battle to out bruise the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, long time no update!!
> 
> I'm going to get back into the swing of things now - I've spent the last week recuperating a bit after _finally_ finishing Pretend We're Dead, hence why I didn't update this story or any others I've got going on right now.
> 
> Decided to get a slightly longer chapter to make up for lost time, the next one will probably be shorter. I have about 3 more chapters planned before I go ahead and finish up this fic, so stay tuned if you're still interested!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	12. Dysfunctional Christmas

“Chloe, just _look_ at this stuff!”

Chloe laughs as she peeks her head over Max’s shoulder. “That’s a long list,” she obviously points out.

Max gives her a quick scowl before she glances back at the list of things her mother had sent her. Mostly Christmas food. That Max and Chloe have to cook. It’s quite a lot.

“I suck at cooking,” Max mumbles and throws the list on the counter. “I should have called mom a few days ago, there’s no way we can make _half_ of this stuff today.”

“Then don’t?” Chloe shrugs and makes her way to the couch, plopping down in the middle. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Chloe!” Max protests and follows her, standing in front of her girlfriend. “It’s _Christmas!”_

“So?” Chloe shrugs again.

“So... so we have to make food… and… things?” Max drops her shoulders in defeat, promptly following with her body as she lands beside Chloe. “I give up.”

Chloe laughs and brings her closer with one arm over her shoulder. “Max, it’s our Christmas. Not your parents, nor mine. It’s ours. Fuck it, don’t cook anything, I really don’t care.”

“But-”

“Max. It’s _our_ Christmas-”

“But what the hell does that mean?” Max looks at Chloe and scrunches up her face. “Explain.”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Chloe rolls her eyes and presses a kiss against her forehead. “Fuck all the cooking. Sure - it _might_ be nice - but I’d rather we do it our way.”

“...okay?” Max raises her eyebrow. “What does that mean though?”

“Ugh!” Chloe shakes Max for a few seconds as she giggles in return. “Fuck cooking things, that’s what that means. Don’t do it. We’ll order takeaway.”

“Takeaway?!” Max almost screeches but stops her pitch just short. “Chloe!”

“Max, baby, real question right now, okay?” Chloe places both her hands on Max’s shoulders and turns her so they’re facing one another. “Do you want to cook, or would you rather just get a takeaway?”

“I…” Max starts and stops. Squinting briefly, she sighs and drops her head. “Takeaway sounds  _okay_ I suppose.”

“See?” Chloe grins and pulls them back against the cushions again. “I’ll head out in a few hours and grab something for us.”

Max nods and rests her head against Chloe’s shoulder. “Do you think we’re the only couple in the world to eat takeaway on Christmas?” she asks quietly.

Chloe bursts out in laughter and shakes her head. “Probably yeah, but y’know what? I don’t care.”

“Are there even any takeaways open on Christmas Eve?” Max wonders aloud.

“Probably a few,” Chloe murmurs as she looks out the window, noticing snow beginning to fall again. “I’ll brave the cold and find one, don’t worry.”

“I’m coming with you, don’t think I’m not.” Max grabs Chloe’s hand and intertwines their fingers, giving her a quick squeeze. “Don’t care if we have to trek halfway across Portland to find an open takeaway.”

“You sure you can handle that much walking?” Chloe teases with a smirk. “Last time we walked through Oregon Park you nearly collapsed.”

“We didn’t walk!” Max protests. “You ran and I chased you!”

“Details.” Chloe yawns, unamused.

“I hate you,” Max whispers and shakes her head. “So frickin much.”

“That might be, but you hate me in the best way.” Chloe smiles and squeezes their connected hands.

“I hate you in the best way,” Max repeats with a nod of her head. “What are we gonna do now? I had all these plans that we’d spend half the day cooking and then the other half setting everything else up. Now it’s all gone to shambles,” she murmurs. “Sucks.”

“Well…” Chloe begins and turns towards Max, gently flipping her down onto the couch with a playful smirk. “I could think of a few things to pass the time.”

“Like…?” Max grins as she scoots backwards until her shoulders hit the couch armrest.

Chloe looms over her briefly, her smirk still gracing her face as she glances at Max’s lips for a moment. “Making out is on top of that list, how’s that sound?”

Max smiles and bats her eyelashes at her girlfriend, inviting her in.

Chloe doesn’t wait.

* * *

 

“So this idea wasn’t so bad, huh?” Chloe chuckles as she chows down on some her food.

Max rolls her head and sips some cheap wine from her glass. “The wine is a welcome addition.”

“Yeah, well, you know… if we’re eating takeaway why not wash it down in style?” Chloe grabs her own glass and clinks it with Max’s before downing the entire thing in one.

“That’s rude,” Max points her fork at her and then giggles. “Jeez…” she breathes out.

Chloe raises an eyebrow and places her glass down, reaching over to grab Max’s hand. “What’s up?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbles and shrugs. “I was just… imagining our first Christmas together better than _this.”_

Watching her quietly, Chloe puts both their takeaway boxes to the side and gently pulls Max towards her, waiting until she nestles up against her. “What did you imagine it like?”

Max shrugs and traces random shapes across the back of Chloe’s hand. “Just… I had this whole idea that we’d cook things, like… a lot of things, it’d be all nice and set out and… well, you know. It’d just be normal.”

Chloe waits for a few seconds and sighs. “You don’t like my idea.”

“No, Chloe-”

“It’s okay Max, I know, I fucked up.”

“Chloe, you didn’t.” Max stops her with a quick kiss, running one thumb over her cheek. “You didn’t fuck up. My imagination just got the better of me, I think I expected too much from our first Christmas.”

Chloe stays silent, watching Max instead.

“I really don’t care that we’re eating takeaway and drinking wine on Christmas Eve. All I care about is that I’m with you, okay?” Max smiles and presses another kiss against her lips. “Normal people have normal Christmas dinners and stuff. We’re not normal.”

Giving her a brief glance, Chloe smiles and kisses her forehead a few times. Looking ahead and out of their window, she thinks.

“What are you thinking about?” Max asks after a few minutes of silence.

“Things.” Chloe shrugs and brushes her hand through her hair.

“Tell me,” Max murmurs as she continues tracing shapes across Chloe’s hand.

“Perhaps… perhaps we should’ve just gone to your folks, or mine, or… shit, I don’t even know what I’m talking about anymore,” Chloe giggles to herself. “I think I’ve drank too much wine.”

Max joins her giggles as she presses her face up against her neck. “You and me both.”

Chloe eventually stops and listens quietly to Max’s breathing against her skin, smiling to herself at the simple squeezes she receives every few minutes. “What do you think? Be honest.”

“I love it all,” Max immediately replies without thought, her answer already prepared. “It’s not the Christmas I’m used to with my parents. This isn’t me and my parents eating quietly, talking once in a while, watching a movie or two. This is different. This is me and you, eating takeaway and drinking wine. This is me and you just… making memories of our somewhat dysfunctional Christmas together.”

Smiling at the answer, Chloe noses up into her chestnut hair and looks out the window again. “So you want to spend next Christmas with me too?”

Max snorts and kisses her neck in return. “Yes you dork, I want to spend next Christmas with you. The one after that too. Then the one afterwards. After afterwards as well.”

“Mhm.” Chloe hums in reply and closes her eyes. The words are nice; they reinforce the barrier keeping her slightly shaky thoughts she has from time to time. “That sounds good.”

“How about we finish eating and drinking then head to bed?” Max suggests and reaches forward to grab her takeaway box. “Here,” she murmurs as she forks up some food and offers it to Chloe. “Eat.”

Chloe blushes but hides it in the relative darkness of their living room, further aided by the LED lights of their Christmas tree. As she munches on her serving, she takes the fork from Max and returns the favour. “Your turn.”

Max giggles and eats Chloe’s offering.

It takes a few minutes to get through the awkwardness of constantly having to change who wields the fork, but they spend some time eating and drinking wine in silence; content with the fact that even if their Christmas isn’t normal by any means, it’s _theirs_ and nobody can take that away from them.

Eventually, Max yawns once they finish both the takeaway boxes and their wine.

“C’mon,” Chloe murmurs and stands up, pulling up the girl with her. “Let’s get some winks.”

Quickly making their way to their bedroom, they drop out of their clothes and quickly slip beneath their sheets; immediately cuddling up together.

Sleep claims them quickly.

* * *

 

Chloe wakes up first thanks to the stray ray of light bleeding in through their window.

“Ugh,” she grunts and rubs the sleep out of her eyes, breathing in deep and getting hit with the scent of her girlfriend beside her; the brunette still dead asleep.

However, almost on cue, Max stirs. Repeating Chloe’s actions, she rubs her eyes and turns to the side to face her girlfriend with a sleepy smile. “Hey,” she murmurs and nestles herself up closer.

“Morning sleepyhead,” Chloe whispers and presses a kiss against her forehead. “Sleep well?”

Max simply nods and closes her eyes again, hoping to catch a few more minutes of rest.

“C’mon, get up lazy.” Chloe throws off their blanket and is immediately met with a disgruntled sound coming out of her girlfriend.

“Just a bit more,” Max says and pulls the blanket back over them. “It’s Christmas, gimme a break.”

Chloe laughs and throws the blanket off them again. “There’s presents Max, that shit can’t wait.”

Max opens her eyes wide as she realises that it’s _Christmas,_ but more specifically it’s _Christmas_ _day._ She rubs her eyes again and sits up, waiting a few brief seconds before she makes her way out of bed and stands at the side.

Watching her in amazement, Chloe is surprised Max had managed to get up so quickly at the simple mention of presents.

“Well? Are you coming or not?” she asks and turns around to look at Chloe still lying in bed and staring up at her. _“Come on!”_

She quickly follows, neither of them bothering to throw on any clothes except for what they fell asleep in.

Max makes the point of grabbing Chloe’s hand on the short walk to their living room, pulling her close to the tree and tugging her down to sit beside it. “Sit,” she says as she drops down to the floor.

Chloe sits opposite her, yet close enough that their hands are still clasped together and their knees are almost touching. “Who’s going first?” she asks.

“Me,” Max flashes a smug grin for a brief moment before she reaches over and grabs a small, wrapped box-like shape from beneath the tree. “Here.”

“What is it?” Chloe asks as she grabs the box and gives it a gentle shake. No rattling.

“Just…” Max stops herself and then breathes in. “Remember a week or two ago, our walk in the park? In the middle of the night?”

“Mhm…” Chloe begins to unwrap the gift as she looks at Max. “What about it?”

“You said something that night. Remember? You were worried we… we wouldn’t last.” Max looks down awkwardly and bites her lip. “I told you we would.”

Chloe nods slowly. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Well… I got you - _us_ \- something that will confirm that we will last,” Max mumbles as she watches Chloe unwrap a small, black box barely the size of her hand. “It might seem stupid, I dunno, maybe I’m just being… clingy and stuff with this from watching too many movies-”

“Max,” Chloe stops her as she stares at the contents of the small black box; two simple, silver rings. “What are these?”

“Promise rings,” she whispers, barely audible. “I… I thought that it would show you I’m serious about us.”

Chloe looks at her momentarily and then back down at the rings. “Promise rings?”

“Yeah. They’re just… stuff people give one another with a promise to be faithful and stuff-”

“Max, I know what promise rings are.” Chloe looks up at her and then at the rings again. “I…”

There’s an awkward silence that last for a few seconds as neither of them say anything.

Eventually Chloe puts the small box down beside her and crawls forward, pushing herself against Max and pulling her down gently against the carpeted floor. Her thumb strokes her cheek as she looms an inch away from her face.

“So…” Max murmurs as she isn’t sure what _this_ is that Chloe is doing. “Did I do good?”

“Hella good,” she whispers back and presses their lips together for a brief moment. “But you shouldn’t have. I… I got you paranoid with this whole relationship stuff and-”

This time she’s silenced by Max pressing her lips against hers. “Don’t,” she simply whispers and smiles. Playfully slapping her thigh afterwards, she giggles. “Now get off, we still have a pile of presents to get through.”

Chloe bites her lip, quickly steals another kiss and then lifts both of them back up into sitting positions. “Wait a sec,” she says and grabs the rings from the small box - slipping one onto Max’s finger, followed by her own. “There.”

Max smiles and intertwines their hands again, looking down at the remaining presents beneath their tree.

“I saw you looking at something a few days ago when we were Christmas shopping,” Chloe speaks as she grabs an equally small box from the pile. “So I had to get you it,” she continues and hands it over to Max.

As Max takes it, she looks at Chloe for a brief second and then begins unwrapping. Seconds later she’s met with a small, red jewelry box with the insignia of a rather prominent company on it.

“Chloe…” she whispers and shakes her head as she opens it up, going silent as she looks at the small silver and gold bracelet lying inside; a miniature golden doe hanging by a small chain attached to it. “This is expensive, Chloe-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Chloe stops her. “I saw you looking at it, so I knew I had to get you it.”

“Chloe you can’t spend so much money on me,” Max murmurs as she strokes her finger over the bracelet.

“You’re my girlfriend Max,” Chloe says and squeezes her hand. “I’ve got money still left from my time in the army, I wanted something nice for you.”

Max looks over the gift for a few more seconds before she smiles. Taking it out of it’s place, she secures it around her wrist and smiles even wider when it fits perfectly. “Thank you,” she whispers and brushes her hair out of her face.

“Do I get a kiss-”

Interrupted again, Chloe struggles to keep herself sitting upright as Max smashes their lips together again.

“I love it,” Max murmurs once they break apart. “It’s beautiful.”

“Just like you,” Chloe speaks and wiggles her eyebrow, adding in a wink for good measure. “C’mon, there’s a whole load remaining.”

They power through the remaining gifts. Both of them had received gifts from their parents - mostly clothes, one or two gag gifts and a note addressed to them both from Joyce; wishing them luck and demanding that they visit again soon.

“Figures mom would write something like this,” Chloe mumbles as she folds up the letter and places it on the coffee table behind her.

“Is that it?” Max says and stretches her arms out, looking below the Christmas tree and noticing one last remaining present.

“Just… one more thing,” Chloe smiles and reaches for the large present, quickly dragging it between them. “This is a special thing. For us.”

“Us?” Max raises her eyebrow. Judging the size of the box, she thinks about what it could be. “Well, what is it?”

Chloe immediately unwraps it, revealing a large, black container with a secured lid holding its contents hidden. “You sure you wanna see this?” she asks her girlfriend and flashes a playful smirk.

“Stop talking and show me already!” Max demands and puts her hands on her hips, holding a pouty expression.

Laughing for a few seconds, Chloe does as she’s told - opening the lid and revealing the contents to Max.

She immediately blushes as she peers inside.

“Chloe-”

“I told you-”

“Chloe Elizabeth Price, what the _hell_ is this?” she exclaims as she reaches inside and pulls out a leather collar from the assortment of items inside. “Is this a _collar?”_

“Wow, out of all the dicks in there you’re more concerned about the collar?” Chloe smirks.

_“Chloe!”_

Chloe laughs and grabs the collar from Max, reaching inside the container to retrieve a leash which she promptly attaches to the collar. “Petplay.”

“Petplay.”

“Petplay,” Chloe repeats as her grin grows wider.

Max blushes again and buries her face in her hands. Moments later she reaches inside and retrieves a pair of handcuffs. “This?”

“Handcuffs, duh.” Chloe continues to grin as she watches Max crawl forward and peer inside the entire contents of the container.

“Chloe, what the hell is _this?”_ she whispers and pulls out a leather harness complete with a dildo. _“Is this a strap-on?”_

Chloe laughs even harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey.
> 
> I've been AWOL for the past week because of stuff, sorry!!
> 
> Back with the Greyhound AU, I wanna finish these last 3 chapters so I can tick another story off as complete. I've already got plans for another story because this AU is my fluff baby and I ain't giving up on it just yet. I'll _probably_ post the last 2 chapters tomorrow and the day after, then I'll pick up @chl03k and Unlikely Renegades.
> 
> Hope ya enjoyed, I think I got a bit rusty with this chapter but I dunno, meh.
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	13. Into the Fire

Chloe lays still in bed, her eyes focused on the whitewashed ceiling of their bedroom. Beside her she hears the steady breathing of her sleeping girlfriend, occasionally mumbling something incoherent in her sleep before she turns to the side or shuffles closer to Chloe.

Staying like this for another couple of minutes, Chloe found herself thinking.

Now that Christmas was technically over and the New Year was just around the corner, she still had one problem: she hadn’t found a job. She had no income, no way of contributing to their small household they had. Sure - she still had money left over from the army, but that’d dwindle quickly; especially after splashing out so much cash for Christmas.

Yawning, she glanced to the side and saw Max still fast asleep. Leaning forward a few inches, she plants a kiss on her forehead and almost immediately feels two hands wrap around her waist.

“Mm, morning jog?” Max slurs as she squeezes Chloe.

Nodding in reply, Chloe smiles. “Yeah. Wanna join me?”

Giggling, Max shakes her head. “I’m okay. Come back quick.”

“Yessir,” Chloe murmurs as she brushes some hair out of her face. “Keep the bed warm for me, m’kay?”

Max nods and gives her a quick kiss, cuddling Chloe’s pillow once she gets up from her place.

Dressing simply, Chloe grabs a simple long-sleeved khaki shirt and some jogging pants. Leaning over towards Max again, she leaves a kiss on her head and leaves the bedroom quietly.

On the way out she grabs her phone from the kitchen island, plugging in her earphones and shuffling her playlist.

As she locks the door behind herself, **Mastodon - Dry Bone Valley** begins playing, causing her to bob her head a tad.

* * *

 

This was morning routine for Chloe since she’d met Max all those months ago. Even if she wasn’t in the army anymore, she still wanted to keep in shape; perhaps it was the discipline drilled into her, perhaps she simply wanted to take care of herself.

Morning jogs _were_ nice (provided the weather was too), and Chloe preferred the colder months because they kept her far more awake, more aware of everything - she also didn’t mind the cold, she grew up in Arcadia Bay after all.

She had different routes planned, most of them took her through the local park and towards the waterfront before looping her back around to the apartment. Today she decided to take her longest one, hoping that most of the snow along the route would be gone.

Within the first few minutes of her run she’d spotted a few familiar faces, mostly their neighbours and local shop owners - and whilst they knew Max better than Chloe, they still gave her a simple nod of the head or a wave of the hand when she passed; after all, she was starting to become their regular too. Morning jogs also helped - sometimes she’d stop and talk to a few people.

Not today though, today she wanted to simply finish her run, grab a shower and cuddle in bed with her girlfriend. Not that it was any different any other day, but today she felt more of an urge than usual (not that she’d admit it).

Running had also always given her time to think. Mostly random thoughts though, things related to what she saw on her usual routine runs. Sometimes she thought about some stuff from the past, sometimes she thought about her future and sometimes she delved into her experiences in the military. That wasn’t so pleasant, so she tried to forget it.

Today however her thoughts were locked on one person from her past - Rachel Amber.

Chloe hadn’t seen Rachel in _years._ At this point she vaguely remembers why they argued that day. Hell, she doesn’t even remember what her parents sound or look like - even if she wanted to ask them where she lives now, there’s no way Chloe would be able to find them. Joyce might know.

After a few more minutes, Chloe stops to stretch for a bit. She’s in a rather nice, somewhat suburban area of Portland - just a ways away from the waterfront from what she can tell. Checking her phone for messages, she finds one from Max; she grins at the simple heart emoji she’d sent her.

Changing up her playlist, she selects **Audioslave’s - Gasoline,** stretches once more and then resumes her run.

* * *

 

After she reaches the waterfront, she does her usual stretches and then runs back.

Passing the same neighbourhood as before, she notices a rising plume of smoke nearby; there’s shouting too, she can see a few people running towards the source.

Taking out her earphones, she changes up her jog and makes her way over also, following a few people.

Only a minute later she’s met with the sight of a suburban house on fire. It’s not mild either - it’s rather enormous by this point, engulfing most of the back portion of the house from what she can see. As the wind picks up, so does the spread of the flames.

There’s a couple, a man and a woman shouting nearby on the front lawn. A few people are seemingly tied up trying to break down the front door, but it seems they’re struggling.

Looking up to the second floor, she can see somebody in the window.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” she mumbles and pushes her way past the crowd towards the group trying to break down the door. “Idiots! Get away from that!”

They stop and look at her.

“Not the damn door, do you want to get fucking burnt?!” she shouts as she approaches. “If the fire is behind it the flames will burst out and scorch you all!”

“Oh shit,” one of them says and steps away. “What the hell are we supposed to do then?”

Chloe looks around and spots the window on the small porch. Peering through, she can see the living room - looks like the flames haven’t reached it. In the corner, there’s a staircase. “Here!” she exclaims and looks around for something heavy.

There’s a rocking chair nearby. She doesn’t hesitate - instead, she grabs it and does her best in throwing it right through the window, smashing the glass as the chair lands inside with a clatter.

Using her foot, she kicks away the sharpest and most jagged pieces of glass sticking out. Once it’s done, she steps inside.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Chloe glances over her shoulder and shelters her face slightly as the heat hits her. It’s pretty fucking hot. “I’m saving whoever is inside! Now if you ain’t helping, stay the fuck down here and call the services!”

With that, she runs straight up the stairs.

“Woah!” she exclaims as she’s met with a sudden blaze bursting out towards her. “Shit!” she shouts, patting away her arm as some embers had set her sleeve on fire. “Ah, m-motherfuck-”

“Help!”

Chloe looks towards the source of the cries as she coughs; the smoke is getting thicker by the second. “Keep shouting!”

“Help! We’re in here! Help, please!”

“We?” she mumbles under her breath and coughs violently again. “Fuck!”

There’s some debris in the way, parts of the house seemingly collapsed already from the fire. As she makes her way through, she kicks away the biggest pieces and hopes that it doesn’t get any worse than this.

Approaching the door at the far end of the hallway, she looks over her shoulder as she bangs on the door; watching as the flames approached faster and faster. “Open the door, stand away immediately!”

On cue, the door opens and Chloe feels the draft of air push through, following by creaking behind her. With a quick glance, she sees more debris falling as the flames approach.

“C’mon!” she shouts and enters the room. There’s a boy, no more than 4-5 years old, crying as he’s held by a girl in her teens; seemingly the person that was calling for help.

“What are we supposed to do?!” the girl desperately shouts as she looks at Chloe.

“Listen to me!” Chloe closes the door behind her but keeps her hand on the handle. “Give me the kid, c’mon!”

Obeying immediately, the girl hands over the boy to Chloe.

“Here, hold on, okay?” she murmurs to the child, doing her best to flash a smile. “Everything is gonna be fine.”

As the boy wraps his hands around Chloe’s neck, she hoists him up and looks at the teenage girl instead.

“What now?!”

“Listen, both of you!” she exclaims loud enough to get their attention, snapping the child out of its crying. “I need you to hold your breath, can you do that for me? I’ll lead us out, I just need you not to breathe the smoke!”

Both of them nod, with the girl desperately saying “Okay”, over and over.

“Now calm down! Here,” Chloe continues and approaches the window with them both. “Take a deep breath now and hold it until we’re outside, do you hear me? Don’t breathe in the smoke! Stay low!”

Now running over towards the door, Chloe knows she’s working on borrowed time.

“Open the door, step back immediately!” she demands as she looks at the teenage girl.

Doing as she’s told, the door swings open and immediately smoke flows into the room; the flames not far behind.

It’s hell. Literal hell. Fire everywhere, debris on the way to the stairs. Chloe assesses the situation as she tightens her hold on the child in her arms. She takes a deep breath of the last vestiges of clean air, looks at the girl beside her and then plunges forward.

It fucking burns. She’s pretty sure the flames burn away parts of her clothes, but she powers through as the adrenaline forces the pain down. She kicks away debris, forces the girl behind her to go forward instead once they reach the stairs.

In a desperate run at the bottom, they both make it out of the living room window, off the porch and onto the front lawn.

Chloe’s not sure what happens next; she’s dizzy, doesn’t feel so great. She hands over the child to his supposed parents, catches glimpses of the teenager hugging her probable father.

There’s a few snippets of words she catches as she collapses on her knees and coughs. “Hero” and “Saviour” are amongst them, but she can’t hear so well right now. She continues to cough - violently - as whatever smoke she inhaled is forcibly removed from her lungs.

“Hey, hey, look at me - are you okay?” she hears a voice calling as a hand lands on her shoulder.

Turning over, she sits down on the grass and looks up at an EMT staring her down. “Y-yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

“Did you breathe in smoke? Get burnt?” he asks as he looks her over, noticing patches of black over her clothes.

“No, I told them both to hold their breath,” she mumbles and rubs away soot and sweat on her forehead, her hands shaking as adrenaline wears off. “Stay low, move quick… y-you get the picture.”

“Mhm,” he hums as he continues checking her over. “You did a damn brave thing there-”

“I did the right thing,” she dismisses him with a wave of her hand. “Nobody else had the balls to do it.”

At that the EMT chuckles and looks over at his partner checking up on the children. “Well you saved two lives, so that’s damn brave in my books.”

Chloe simply nods and looks around at the gathering crowds. She sees as a group of firemen push through with the help of the police; there’s a woman and three men all clad in protective suits.

“C’mon, get up,” the EMT requests and picks her up with her help. “We’ll just do a quick checkup, make sure you’re fine.”

Nodding, Chloe allows herself to be led away towards the ambulance nearby.

* * *

 

Nearly three hours later, she finally returns home.

“Chloe, _what the fuck,_ where have you-”

Max stops as she looks at the sorry state of her girlfriend. Immediately she sprints forward and hugs her.

Chloe returns it, albeit weak as she’s somewhat tired after her morning jog. “Hey,” she simply whispers and rests her head on top of Max’s. “I’m good.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Max almost exclaims loud enough for their neighbours to hear. “Why the hell haven’t you been answering your phone?! Why are you so dirty? Chloe!”

“My phone?” she mumbles and reaches into her pockets. It’s not there. “Oh. I… I think I lost my phone in a fire. That’s fine.”

“What-,” Max shakes her head in disbelief, shocked at what she just heard. “Lost your phone _\- what -_ in a _FIRE?_ That’s _fine?_ Chloe, what the _fuck!”_

“Let me explain,” she breathes out and leads the two of them towards the couch, resting herself in the comfy cushions. Her muscles ache. “T-there… there was a fire.”

Max continues looking at her like she some kind of an extraterrestrial being.

“I was jogging. There was a fire, okay? I… I saw a kid in the window, bunch of dudes were trying to get in but couldn’t. Idiots tried risking the door when the damn window to the living room was right there.” Taking in a breath, she leans forward and drops her head into her hands. “I broke in, ran my ass through the flames, found the kid and her little brother.”

“Oh my god,” Max whispers as she cups Chloe’s hands into her own.

“I… I carried the kid out through the flames, did the shit they taught me. Don’t breathe in smoke, stay low - that kinda shit, y’know,” she continues and sighs. “Jesus f-fucking Christ.”

“Did-,” Max begins and looks at her girlfriend with concern.

“Yeah, yeah… they’re both fine. Thanks to me, it seems.” Chloe leans sideways and takes comfort in Max’s embrace. “It was hell. S-shit, it reminded me of things.”

“What things?” Max asks quietly as she strokes her hair, pressing a gentle kiss to her hair and ignoring the fact it’s dirty and disheveled.

“My tours,” Chloe whispers and closes her eyes. “I… I saved a kid back then too. Some _c-cunts_ bombarded a local hospital, place was on fire. Nobody but me had the balls to run in and save the damn kid left behind. Fucking people, man.”

“You never told me that,” Max says as she continues comforting her.

“I know. There’s a lot of things I didn’t tell you about, it’s not stuff you should hear. It’s… not stuff I want to talk about, okay?” Chloe finishes off and lays her head down on Max’s lap. “Not today. I’m tired.”

“Okay,” Max breathes out and lifts up her hand to kiss it. “What you did was brave, Chloe.”

“I’m not brave,” Chloe shakes her head in denial, though she knows it’s somewhat true. “I’m not fucking brave. I just did the right thing. My dumbass didn’t even think-”

“Stop that,” Max silences her and shakes her. “You’re brave. You’re goddamn brave Chloe, stop denying it. You saved two lives, that’s… amazing. I’m so proud of you.”

“...but you think I’m a dumbass for risking my life?” Chloe mumbles and looks up at Max. Her face holds a neutral expression, like she’s struggling with something.

“We talked about this before,” Max simply states and shakes her head. “I’m not happy, but I’m proud of you anyway, okay? We agreed that you’d stop risking yourself, just drop it there, I don’t want to argue.”

Chloe doesn’t say anything.

It’s quiet for a few minutes as they rest on the couch, Chloe still laying her head on Max’s lap as she strokes her hair in turn.

Eventually, Max presses a kiss to Chloe’s forehead (even though it’s awkward because of how low Chloe is lying on her lap). “I’ll get a bath ready, get you cleaned up, okay?”

Chloe nods and lifts herself up. “M’kay,” she simply replies and watches as Max leaves the room and disappears behind the door to their bathroom.

With some time to herself, Chloe approaches the shelves they’ve set up on the walls.

Looking over the items displayed on the surface, she runs her fingers over the Purple Heart medal in its small velvet encasing. Beside it lay her various patches she’d kept: the red cross, her name patch, her rank. It brings back memories from before she met Max.

Perhaps it's just a thought because of what happened today, but at the back of her mind she goes over the possibility of saving lives as a career. Max told her she’s brave. That EMT told her she’s brave. People called her a _Hero,_ a _Saviour_ when she saved those two kids.

Maybe they were right.

“Chloe, c’mon.”

Chloe looks over her medal once more before she turns on her heel and joins Max.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the basics of fire, don't open doors in case the flames are on the other side, don't inhale smoke etc. Hopefully that scene was somewhat realistic?
> 
> That being said, there's a pretty big hint about Chloe's future career.
> 
> Last chapter is up tomorrow (hopefully)!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


	14. Promises and Resolutions

Leaving the bathroom with a towel in her hands, Max tilts her head to the side as she continues to dry out her hair. Upon entering the living room, she spots Chloe standing in front of their shelves again; probably the 3rd or 4th time she’d caught her doing it.

“Chloe?” she asks as usual. “What are you doing?”

“Thinking,” Chloe replies and turns around.

“You’ve been doing that a lot lately,” Max mumbles and sits herself down on the edge of the couch, continuing to look at her girlfriend and drying her hair. “Are you going to tell me what you’ve been thinking about?”

“Things,” Chloe says and shrugs.

“What things? I don’t know what things are Chloe. Explain?” Max quirks an eyebrow and watches as Chloe runs a hand through her hair and tugs at her short ponytail.

“I… I want to become a firefighter, Max.” Chloe drops her hands beside herself and looks at Max. “I want to save lives, do good things.”

Max doesn’t say anything, simply opting to drop the towel behind her and her head into her hands.

“You don’t approve,” Chloe mumbles and looks to the side, tapping her foot.

“It’s not that I don’t, but-,” she whispers and then shakes her head, looking back up. “Chloe, we made a deal. You’d stop risking your life, find a safe career.”

Chloe crosses her arms and glances back at Max. “It is safer, much safer than being a soldier-”

“That’s not -  _ ugh! _ \- that’s not the point-”

“Then what is your point, Max?” Chloe exclaims and drops her hands back down again, throwing them out beside herself. “What the fuck do you want me to do? Push papers for a living? I can’t work a fucking office job-”

“I’m not asking you to work an office job!” Max shouts back and slides off the couch. “I’m asking you to find something safe!”

“Max, I can’t fucking work a fucking safe job! I don’t want to-”

“So you want to go out there and risk your f-fucking  _ life _ everyday to save people? What about  _ me?” _

Chloe threw up her hands in anger. “Here we fucking go again-”

“No, Chloe, you don’t get to-”

“No, Max! I get to say exactly that! You always do this shit, always bring yourself up! Frankly, I’m fucking sick of it! I know that you’re scared, okay? I know that you’re afraid I’ll hurt myself or worse - you always reminded me, time and fucking time again! I  _ know, _ okay?”

Max exhales slowly and brings up one hand to hold her elbow, looking at Chloe.

“But I  _ want _ to do this, Max! I  _ want _ to! I want to… go out there, not stay cooped up in some fucking office block, working some garbage 9-to-5 job that makes me want to kill myself by the end of the day!” Chloe continues as she steps forward. “That’s not for me. I want to feel useful again, like I’m making a difference. Saving people… that’s the only way that makes me feel that way. It feels like I’m doing something good again.”

Waiting for a few seconds, Max turns around and sits herself back down on the couch, placing her face in her hands.

Chloe watches her for a few seconds before letting slip a sigh. “I… I’m going to go for a walk. I need some fresh air. Do you-”

“No,” Max replies, her voice quiet but clear in her silent demand to leave her alone.

Grabbing her jacket, Chloe slips it on and takes her keys; making a point of slamming the door on her way out.

* * *

Now sitting quietly on a bench in the local park, Chloe absently twirls the silver band on her finger, her head going over their argument for the millionth time.

Perhaps she was too harsh, maybe she shouldn’t have raised her voice, shouldn’t have shouted at Max. But she had to make her point - she had enough of sitting around and doing nothing useful. Maybe she  _ could _ work an office job. Maybe she  _ could _ push papers for a living, work a depressing 9-to-5 shift and come home beat and tired as fuck.

Chloe wasn’t like that though. She didn’t  _ want _ to do some boring job. She wanted excitement, perhaps some danger; being a firefighter would definitely bring her that satisfaction. She’d be helping save people, saving lives - doing something good again. She’d feel useful.

“Ugh,” she groans and leans forward on the bench, picking up a random pebble from the ground and staring down at it.

“Hey.”

Looking up, Chloe spots Max standing a few feet away with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. “Max? What are you doing here? I thought you said-”

“I know what I said, Chloe.” Max stares at her with a scowl and then softens it into an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I… this is just… can we talk? Not argue?”

Chloe briefly stares at her and then pats the spot beside her on the bench.

Max immediately sits down and shuffles closer, resting the flowers on her lap. “I want to say I’m sorry.”

Choosing to stay quiet and listen, Chloe looks around the park.

“I know this must be hard on you. Coming back home, quitting the only thing you’ve been doing for the past few years simply because some… girl you met and dated for a few months told you to do it,” Max mumbles and buries her head in her scarf slightly. “I haven’t even thought too much about it.”

“You’re not just some girl, Max,” Chloe murmurs and looks at her. “But… you’re right. It’s hard. I don’t know how to adjust to things.”

“I haven’t been fair,” Max admits. “I told you -  _ no _ \- I  _ demanded _ that you find a safe job. I didn’t take into consideration what  _ you _ wanted. I’m sorry. I suck.”

Chloe snorts and tosses the pebble away, wiping her hands on her jeans.

“I’m just scared. I want you to be safe, I don’t want to run the risk of you getting hurt  _ again.”  _ Leaning forward herself, Max holds the flowers in her hand as she looks them over; thinking over her next few words. “I want you to be happy too. If… if saving others at the risk of… hurting… yourself is what makes you happy then… it’ll make me happy too.”

“I don’t take pleasure in getting hurt, Max-”

“I know, I know, I worded it poorly. I suck,” she repeats and giggles to herself. “What I meant to say is that if protecting others, saving them from harm… if that is what you want to do, then I’ll support you. All the way.”

“I  _ was _ thinking of rejoining the army-”

_ “No, _ that is  _ not _ happening-”

“I’m joking,” Chloe chuckles and glances sideways at the brunette.

“That’s not funny.” Max looks at her and then briefly at the flowers she’s still holding. “I… I got these for you.”

Chloe wishes she could hide her blush beneath her scarf like Max always does, but she doesn’t have that luxury right now, simply allowing her slightly rosy cheeks to show. “Thanks,” she murmurs and smiles as she takes the bouquet.

“I’m sorry baby,” Max whispers and looks down at the ground. “Please don’t be mad?”

Draping an arm over her shoulder, Chloe pulls Max closer and gently knocks their head together. “I’m not mad. You’re forgiven.”

“Woo.” Max whoops quietly and giggles.

“This… this thing that I want, the career as a firefighter… there’s a lot of hoops-”

“So I’ve read.”

“Yeah -  _ wait _ \- you’ve read up details on being a firefighter?” Chloe asks and moves back slightly, looking at Max.

“What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t know what my girlfriend was getting into?” Max flashes a goofy smile and knocks their heads together again. “I took sometime to read up stuff after you left.”

“I… wow, that’s… that’s pretty awesome of you-”

“Don’t mention it,” Max whispers and smiles.

“It’s getting pretty cold, want to head back? We can talk all about it in the apartment,” Chloe suggests as excitement bleeds into her voice, standing up and holding out her hand towards Max.

Taking her hand, Max intertwines their fingers and pushes herself right next to Chloe, giving her a quick squeeze. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“So, what do you know so far?”

Max shrugs as she sits beside Chloe and takes a sip from her mug. “Just the basics. Things like what you’d have to do, the training and stuff.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I know. There’s… there’s a way for me to fast track my training thanks to my army experience as medic,” Chloe says and looks at Max. “The VA can help me, it’ll cut my training in at least half. I can become a proper firefighter by the time my birthday comes around, maybe earlier.”

“Wow,” Max whispers and gazes at Chloe. “That’s amazing.”

“Yeah, it is,” Chloe admits and displays a proud smile. “I’ll be out there, fighting fires and… saving people. I just need to pass the psych eval, the tests and the actual training, then I’ll be good to go.”

Placing her hand over Chloe’s, Max gives it a squeeze. “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asks quietly.

Chloe sighs and nods her head momentarily. “It is. I want to do this Max. I want to help people, do good things. I can’t stay cooped up in a building doing boring shit. I need excitement, some danger.”

“Okay,” Max smiles and lifts her hand to leave a kiss over her knuckles. “If it’s what you want, I’ll support you.”

Blushing again, Chloe grins. “Thanks. This means a lot to me.”

“I know,” Max nods her head and then sips her chocolate. “I… a-actually, it doesn’t matter.”

“There’s also some other stuff we’d have to get used to,” Chloe murmurs and looks away for a moment. “I read about the duty, availability when you’re a firefighter. I’d basically be on call the entire time, would have to drop everything if something big came in.”

Max nods as she listens.

“There’d be night shifts too. Probably a lot during my first few months, supposedly they do it to rookies to get them used to the life. It’s gonna suck.” Chloe reaches over and grabs her own mug of chocolate, taking a long drink.

“We’ll get through it,” Max reassures her with a squeeze of her hand.

“You’re sure you’ll be fine with this Max? I can’t have you backing out once I’m out there and-”

“I’m sure Chloe,” Max gives her another squeeze and rests her head against her shoulder. “I might not like the idea of it at first, but I’ll get used to it. I don’t want to hold you back like I did before, that’s not right. If you want to do this, then do it. You don’t need my permission.”

Chloe smiles and presses a kiss against Max’s head. “Thank you.”

“I’m happy that you’re happy,” she whispers. “I won’t guilt trip you about this anymore. I should’ve thought about what you wanted more. I’m sorry.”

Cupping her chin with a hooked finger, Chloe places their foreheads together. “You’ve already apologized, it’s okay.”

“Still…” Max mumbles and drops her eyes to the floor momentarily. “I was kind of shitty to you, I promise not to do it again.”

“I still love you, okay? Even through all these fights and arguments we have,” she whispers and flashes a smile. “I know that you’re concerned for me, that you’re afraid I’ll get hurt. I won’t, okay?”

Max sighs and looks away. “That’s what you said last time.”

“Please, don’t start this again-”

“Sorry, it’s just… it’s hard,” Max admits and rests her head on Chloe’s shoulder instead. “I’ll get used to it though.”

“Good.”

As Chloe leans them sideways to rest on the couch, Max shuffles closer and wraps her hands around her, placing her head in the nook of her neck and taking in a deep breath. They stay like this for a few minutes in almost complete silence, broken up only by the sound of the TV in the background.

“Oh crap! I almost forgot,” Max says and then rises her head up slightly to look at Chloe. “Uhm. Juliet called when you were gone, she’s invited us to another one of her get together party things for the New Year.”

Chloe nods as she gives Max a sideways glance. “...and?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to go…?” Max asks and shrugs. “It’s okay if you don’t, I know the last one was kinda lame by your standards-”

“Sure,” Chloe replies and gives Max a wide smile. “I can go but only if you go with me, deal?”

Max giggles, shakes her head and then rests it back in her burrow underneath Chloe’s head. “Deal.”

* * *

“So where’s this party taking place Maximus?” Chloe asks as they both enter the parked ‘73 Chevy outside their apartment. “Juliet’s, I assume?”

Max nods as she straps herself in with the seatbelt. “Mhm. More specifically on the roof though from what she told me? Dunno.”

“The roof?” Chloe raises an eyebrow as the car roars to life and promptly merges onto the road. “Aren’t you afraid of heights?”

“A bit,” Max admits and looks out the window.

Chloe snorts and taps her fingers on the wheel as she drives. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to catch you if you fall.”

“Groan,” Max buries her face in her hands and lets out a muffled giggle. “My hero.”

“You know it,” Chloe teases and winks towards her girlfriend.

After a few silent minutes of driving, Max turns to look at Chloe with a quizzical expression. “Chloe, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“After you came back from your jog a few days ago, when you talked about the fire,” Max reminds her and sees Chloe nodding momentarily. “You said that it reminded you of things. Things you never told me. Why?”

Chloe tightens her grip on the steering wheel as she goes silent, almost forgetting to breathe in the moment. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Are you sure?” Max pries but softens her expression into one of concern. “I’m here for you, if there’s anything-”

“No, there isn’t Max,” Chloe finishes the conversation promptly as she speaks over her. “Just drop it, okay?”

Max goes silent and nods.

“I’m sorry, it’s just… I don’t want to talk about it,” she apologises. “I don’t want to seem like an asshole, but it’s better if I don’t talk about these things to you. Maybe a shrink, maybe David. Fuck, I don’t know.”

“That’s okay,” Max whispers and places her hand over Chloe’s on the clutch.

“I’ll talk about it when I’m ready, how’s that?” Chloe turns her head towards Max and flashes her best smile.

Max smiles back and squeezes her hand. “That’s fine. Take your time, but I’m here, okay? Just talk to me if you need to.”

“I know, I know.” Chloe slows the vehicle down as they approach an intersection, turning her head back towards Max and simply looking at her.

Max doesn’t realise as she continues looking out the window, thinking.

* * *

“Max! Chloe! You’re here!”

Max smiles and hugs Juliet as they meet on the landing just outside her apartment door. “Hey Juliet.”

“Sup girl?” Chloe greets Juliet after Max, pulling her into an equally long hug. “Where’s the party at?”

Juliet laughs as she locks her apartment behind her, pointing over her shoulder towards the stairs. “Up on the roof, a few people are there already, a few are still on the way.”

“Sweet.” Chloe wraps an arm around Max’s shoulder and immediately starts leading them up the steps, Juliet just behind holding a smirk. “I assume you got drinks?”

“Uh, yeah? This is a New Year’s party, of course I have drinks!” Juliet exclaims, holding a hand up to her chest as if insulted. “There’s music too, in case you thought otherwise.”

Max giggles at the exchange and opts to stay silent until they reach the roof.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase, Chloe leads the three of them through the door and into the open air of the rooftop.

Like Juliet had said, there’s already a few people here: Warren, Brooke, Dana and Kate are all amongst them. There are a few unnamed faces, a few people Chloe and Max recognise from the Christmas party just a week or two back (though Chloe can’t remember most of their names anymore).

There’s a cooler with drinks, a table and rough-yet-comfortable-looking sitting area set up near the edge of the roof. The place looks somewhat prepared for a party. There’s even music playing from a docking station on the table, but it’s something that neither Max nor Chloe recognise.

Naturally, Chloe gravitates the couple towards the drink’s cooler. “Whaddya want Maximus?”

Max shrugs as she peers at the collection of drinks inside. “Anything suits me.”

Chloe grabs the topmost bottles of Heineken and promptly shuffles them towards the rest of the small group sitting down. “W’sup everyone?” she asks as they approach.

“Oh, Chloe! Hey to you both,” Warren speaks up and holds up his own beer bottle towards the two. “Juliet said you were coming over.”

“Hi Max!” Kate calls out and gets up to hug her friend. “Hey Chloe!”

Hugging her back, Chloe sits herself down beside Kate and pulls Max closer when she decides to sit a bit further away than she’d like. “Where are you going, huh?”

Max rolls her head and snatches a beer bottle from Chloe. “Gimme that.”

Dana laughs at the two of them as she shuffles closer to Max. “How have the two of you been?”

“Great,” Max replies for the two of them as she twists the cap off her bottle and takes a sip. She winces at the bitter taste, but continues drinking anyway. “Chloe has finally found something to do!”

“Really?” Warren raises an eyebrow as he leans forward. “What that might be?”

Chloe shrugs as she takes a few gulps from her own beer. “Firefighter,” she says after bringing her bottle down. “I wanted to get back to helping people, you know?”

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Kate gushes and pats Chloe’s forearm approvingly. “That’s really, really brave of you.”

“You haven’t heard what she did a few days ago,” Max mumbles and gets the attention of the group. Looking at Chloe for a few seconds, she rests her head on her shoulder and smiles at everyone. “She went out for her usual morning jog…”

Chloe doesn’t say anything as Max recites the story to the group, only saying the odd “Thanks,” to them when they all tell her how brave she is for doing what she did. Each time she hears it, she feels more confident of herself, of her future.

Whenever she can, she glances at Max talking about her with a proud smile constantly gracing her lips. By the end, Chloe is resting her head on Max’s shoulder with her eyes closed.

She doesn’t hear the few “Aww's” that come out of Juliet and Dana when they notice.

* * *

When midnight is just around the corner, Juliet ushers everyone to the edge of the roof and the small table nearby; Juliet’s laptop setup on top with a clock counting down the last minute.

“C’mon everyone!” she exclaims as she hands out fresh bottles of beer, glasses of champagne and wine. “I want to hear you all!” she demands and points her finger around the gathered group.

“Sure, sure.” Chloe rolls her eyes and pulls Max closer, looking around everyone.

As the seconds continue ticking down, there’s idle chatter between everyone; mostly jokes or comments about how cold it is up on the roof. There’s some laughter, some jokes exchanged. The atmosphere is merry - everyone seems happy.

It’s in the last ten seconds that Juliet gets everyone’s attention again. “C’mon people!”

There’s last second laughter and chatter before the five second mark.

“Five! Four! Three!”

Max tugs Chloe’s collar and pulls her down just a tad so she isn’t forced to stand on her tiptoes. Chloe grins.

“Two! One!”

As most of the group cheer and whoop after shouting “Happy New Year!”, Max and Chloe are too busy kissing. It’s only after Chloe is lightly shoved by somebody that they stop and break away.

“You two have no decency!” Dana says and laughs as she bumps shoulders with Chloe who simply grins back.

Max hides her face momentarily and waits for the blush to die down.

There’s an exchange of pleasantries between everyone, well wishing and more laughter as some individuals scatter out with others back into their previous spots on the rooftop.

After a few minutes talking to their friends, Chloe and Max walk themselves over to one corner of the roof that is a fair distance away from anybody else.

Sharing another quick kiss, Max carefully sits herself on the edge of the roof and avoids glancing down.

Chloe laughs and pulls her closer, causing the brunette to squirm. “Jeez, calm down, you’re not gonna fall.”

“I know, it’s just…” Max shrugs and looks down at her beer bottle. “I don’t like heights.”

“Yeah, I know that hippie.” Chloe rolls her head and presses a kiss against her temple. “I’ve got you, ain’t no way in hell you’re falling.”

Max giggles and takes a sip of her beer. Hesitating for a moment, she turns the two of them sideways slightly so they can glance over the Portland skyline and the ongoing fireworks show in the downtown area.

“What are you thinking about?” Chloe asks as she looks at her.

“Everything,” she shrugs. “Ever since you’ve been back, I’ve been happier than ever. We’ve just had our first Christmas together, just celebrated the New Year together.”

“Awesome,” Chloe bobs her head in agreement. “Any regrets from the yesteryear?”

Max furrows her eyebrows and sips her drink. “Maybe being too clingy, possessive. I should allow you to be yourself rather than shelter you from everything.”

Chloe laughs and leans forward, knocking their heads together. “You were concerned and worried. We worked it out though, right?”

“Mhm,” she hums in reply. “What about you?”

Gulping down some of her own beer, Chloe thinks. “Probably not leaving the army sooner. Then I wouldn’t have gotten this,” she lifts up her shirt and reveals some of the scarred tissue, mostly healed over at this point. “Wouldn’t have caused you to worry.”

“We both suck.” Max giggles and takes her hand, intertwining their fingers.

“Yeah, but we suck together.” Chloe laughs as Max contorts her face slightly.

“Such a dork.” Max gives the city another sideways glance and stares up at the fireworks still being fired off in the distance. “What about resolutions?”

“Probably stop being an asshole.” Chloe looks up at the fireworks and then sighs.

“You’re not an asshole,” Max murmurs and squeezes her hand. “But sometimes you get irrationally angry.”

Chloe scoffs and smiles afterward. “Sure. What about you?”

“Said it before. Stop being so clingy, let you do what you want. I’ll support you in whatever you want to do,” Max smiles as she speaks.

Drinking their beer in silence, the couple continues looking over the ongoing fireworks show. After a few minutes it finally dies down and a few people from their party start to make their way off the roof, thanking Juliet on the way.

Max looks over her shoulder briefly and then pulls Chloe closer, placing their foreheads together. “Can you promise me one thing?”

“Anything.” Chloe smiles as she brushes their noses together.

“Stay. Alive. Do what you need to do, but stay alive.”

“I’ll do my best.”

They share another kiss before they call it a night and head home, ready for the year ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...aaand that's another one for the count!
> 
> Hero of War turned out much longer than it's predecessor and I certainly didn't think it'd get this much attention!
> 
> I want to thank everyone for commenting and supporting via kudos, bookmarks etc. It's always a huge moral boost to see people enjoying my stories, even when I'm not updating as regularly as I promised!
> 
> I'm really happy with how this story turned out and now paved the way for future instalments of the Greyhound AU. Whilst I'm not exactly sure _when_ the next story in the series will start going up, I can certainly promise it will come because I love this AU to bits and I have big plans for it.
> 
> I'm going to take a day or two of a break then pick up my other stories, most notably @chl03k and Unlikely Renegades because I've been promising an update for a while now.
> 
> Once again, thank you for the support! It was huge for me!
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


End file.
